Shadow Cats and Dire Wolves
by x XRoweenaJAugustineX x
Summary: Robb Stark was traveling South to rage a war, when he found a place that never wanted to be found and met a woman that never wanted to be queen. The prologue story to my story "Queen of the Savages". Book 1
1. Chapter 1

Rightio, I am sorry that I just stopped the sequel, to start to first. But hopfully this situation is better;

I own nothing

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

Robb Stark was no stranger to the cold; he grew up feeling the chill of the north on his skin, seeing the snow fall, feeling the frozen earth beneath his boots. It was the unfamiliar feeling of southern summer heat that set him on edge.

Still as he and his army moved further south the cold of the north fallowed them, even here on the southern border. Their words were true. Winter had come.

Subconsciously Robb bundled a little further into his warm leathers and wools and furs. White fog escaped his nose and mouth as he walked his horse onward. The wood in which they trekked though was so dense the sun barely made it past the canopy of snow above them, held up by the bare branches.

Robb wasn't the only one curling deeper into his garments for warmth. The noble lords that acted as his generals, their own guards, and the men they governed from their keeps in the north, all shook from the cold. Them, grown men who had spent all their lives in the frozen north of Westeros. The absence of the sunlight added to the cold coming down from the north.

Of course it was not his first choice to enter the sunless thicket in the first place, but it was the only reasonable choice offered, it was the only choice that offered them the element of surprise while cutting off retreat. But now, he could not see any city abandoning their homes for this cold and unforgiving forest.

Through the trees and shrubbery, there was a rather large, southern town, the holdfast of Pinkmaiden. Pinkmaiden was a Riverland outpost, the seat of House Piper who had once sworn themselves to House Tully. But at hearing of the destruction Tywin Lannister's host had caused and knowing a great many riches would come his way, Lord Piper was quick to bend his knee to the Lannister troops that appeared at the doors to his keep one day. Now Pinkmaiden was one of the Lannister's leading outposts for supplies.

Robb marched south to reclaim Pinkmaiden as a Northern supporter and to deal out the correct punishment for an oath breaker like Lord Piper. From rumours heard, Piper and his family were like prisoners in their own castle, as Lannister's occupied their inns and guarded the holdfast they'd taken.

The choice was obvious, albeit difficult to swallow. So Robb marched twelve-hundred men though this monster of tall trees while the rest of his host went around. Catelyn Stark had vigorously voiced her opinions on the matter. She felt it was a useless effort to get through the forest, wasted time and energy. Robb believed otherwise and now he himself led his soldiers, mother and Lord Umber through the forest.

The locals nearest to the edge of the forest claimed vigorously that it was haunted by the spirits of the settlers that had attempted to travel through the forest hundreds of years past. The men had a good laugh about their silly superstitions the first night, but now, with the wind whistling through the trees, shadows dancing across them night and day and strange noises slicing through the air all the time, the idea of ghosts didn't seem so foolish at all. Even the horses were on edge.

Currently, Robb and the others walked their horses through a fairly wide stream that was surprisingly un-frozen. Truthfully, none of the men (or Lady Stark) had been able to ride their horses through their march inside the maze of trees. It was simply too difficult to maneuver the animals from above. As for the wagons and carts, soldiers took shifts in cutting down the small shrubs that blocked their path.

_This has to be done_, Robb reminded himself as he reached the other side of the stream. Did it really have to be done though?

Suddenly, a loud cry fallowed by a bark broke through the air, making a few, including Robb, draw their swords in defence. Robb's grey stallion snorted and shifted nervously. Robb knew immediately what that sound was: Grey Wind. Inwardly, Robb made a note to reward Grey Wind with a full rabbit at catching any potential spies, or supper for later in the night.

As they fallowed the loud growls up the stream and through large clusters of trees, Theon Greyjoy, and the few knights that fallowed the King of the North were rendered wordless at the scene that greeted them. For a moment, they wondered if their time in the wood had driven them to near madness. For it was just too unlikely that the sight before them was anything but a hallucination.

There, pinned by Grey Wind's mighty paws, was a small girl, clad in a cloak trimmed with fur and under her cloak was a thick green dress. Staring, bewildered at the scene, Robb realized she couldn't have been more than ten, as young as his own sister, Arya and his brother, Bran. His heart filled with pity for the frightened looking child.

"Grey Wind," Robb called, snapping the other men from their wonder. "To me." the dire wolf obediently moved off the trembling girl and trotted toward Robb, nuzzling his hand affectionately.

Without wasting any time, the girl scrambled to her feet and started to run. She stumbled her first few steps before regaining balance.

Greyjoy never took his eyes off the girl, watching her as a vulture eyes a carcass. So he was the first to react to her running. His legs were longer and stronger than hers and he caught her easily, pulling his sharp dagger under her throat. His iron hand bit into her arm painfully, meaning bruises.

Feeling the cold steel against her throat she stopped struggling. Many times, her father had told her to show no fear. Now, facing an enemy for the first time, she could no longer hear her father's comforting voice. She whimpered, tears stinging her eyes. She did not resist as the man with the blade turned her around to face the others. Her dark eyes clenched shut, waiting for the order that would mean her death when an angry voice boomed out:

"Greyjoy put away your blade!" The Northern king's blue eyes flashed dangerously.

"She ran once, m'lord. Best keep her restrained lest she runs off and brings back trouble." Robb remained persistent. She was just a girl, a scared one. Her eyes were clenched shut and tears leaked out from the corners of her eyes.

"Remove. Your. Blade." Robb ordered coldly. Slowly, Greyjoy pulled his knife away from the girl's neck, still holding her arm tightly.

Her eyes snapped open, tears of terror blinding her a moment, before they adjusted and her brown eyes darted fearfully around the small group of men. She winced as the man—_Greyjoy_—squeezed her arm and tugged her forward to the other men. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears and sweat sheeting over her forehead. The little mouse she'd been chasing was probably back in his den, safe and warm with his family. How she wished she were that little mouse at that moment.

She could not hear the words exchanged and the words spoken to her, asking if she was alright. Her eyes kept darting back to each of the men, her mind racing.

Robb watched her tense, her jaw clenching and unclenching, the fog coming from her mouth in sharp pants. She was too scared to speak, that was clear enough. But he and his men had to be on their way if they were to capture the southern town by the end of the next moon.

Ignoring Theon's silent admonition, Robb ordered him to release her. The little thing trembled like a leaf in the breeze, meeting his eyes only once before looking down at the forest floor, not looking up again. After another failed bout of brief questioning, this time inquiring as to where her family was, they set off.

Subtly, she tried to slip to the back of the group, only to be stopped by that great grey beast of a dog. She jumped and ran forward to the middle of the barrier of men, away from the beast. It was...huge! Bigger than any hound she had ever seen, bigger than the baby deer she had taken back home that time...It had to be a monster. It _had_ to!

Despite her love of animals, she could not find it in her to want to study the creature, it was a monster. Its paws had all but crushed her, and it left her chest feeling bruised and dirty with mud. It was big enough to eat her up, just like the beasts in Samyella's stories. She didn't want to look at it, fearing her scrutiny would infuriate it and lead to her being eaten.

And the man... the red haired man, he'd ordered it off her, she realized with a start. Was he some evil sorcerer to have control over such a big, toothy animal? The ridiculous thought would've made her smile.

As they weaved around the trees, the girl's anxiety grew when she realised the familiar weight of _Natalya_ was gone from her neck. Tears began to leak from her eyes again, only to be hastily brushed away.

Her heart leapt when they finally made it out of the thick growth and into the reasonably clear acre where the army waited.

She silently prayed for her siblings to find her as they brought her to a red haired lady, and shyly averted her eyes from the highborn woman. From her brief glances at the lady, she knew right off that she and the beast-master-man were somehow related. They had similar hair and the same eyes. Mother and son most likely.

_She had his colouring_, as one of her elder sisters would say. Admittedly, the woman was pretty, but her mouth was arranged into a taught line and her eyes were cold. This was enough to make her even more timid, preferring to look at her feet rather than Lady Stark.

Lady Stark looked down at the little girl standing in front of two armed guards, as if she were a prisoner. After Robb explained the situation, he placed her in charge of minding the girl and Catelyn did so without protest. A little girl thrown to the soldiers of Robb's army would have been heartlessly cruel and would hang heavy on their conscience forever if they had.

The girl stayed close to Lady Stark for the next few hours, choosing her silent company to a horde of burly men. Lady Stark kept a firm hold of her hand, never speaking to her as she sensed the girl would not speak back.

They moved past the river, Lady Stark and the nameless girl perched on the elder's horse and then once again snaked through the trees. Then, by a stroke of luck, one of the scouts came back to Robb and told him of a clearing not too far ahead that was perfect for a camp.

Soon after Robb's own tent was set, Lady Stark walked in with the little girl in tow, her eyes glassy with unshed tears and her shoulders visibly trembling at seeing the group of men waiting.

Gently, Lady Stark guided her to a chair that sat adjacent to Robb's and sat her down. For a few long seconds nothing was said, the little girl slouching in her chair, her hands twisting her cloak nervously. She didn't look at him either, finding her hands more interesting. He could tell she was intimidated by all the big, hulking men with sharp swords around her, especially with Grey Wind and Theon Greyjoy, who had both previously attacked her.

"Leave us." He ordered, his eyes shifted to his mother, silently asking her to stay. "Go." he nodded to Grey Wind who lay by his feet. The girl flinched as the wolf brushed past her.

"No harm will come to you." Robb said softy to the girl when the men had left. She didn't move her eyes away from her hands. "I swear to you. What's your name?"

Silence.

"Where's your family?"

Silence.

"We can return you to them if you tell us where they are." this time she shifted nervously, her brown eyes flashing to him before she looked away again, gnawing on her lip.

She was a brave little thing, he gave her that. In spite of her tiny appearance, and wide, frightened eyes, like a doe caught in a snare and cornered with no means of escape, she did not bawl or resist violently in a way that would have earned her pain. She was silent with an air of fear that increased when someone attempted to touch her, flinching back as though she expected a blow. Under his care, no one would lay a hand on her, Robb vowed.

Despite their attempts at making her more comfortable, the little dark haired girl remained tight lipped. For over an hour they questioned her with no answer, until supper was served. Robb sat with his men and his mother sat not too far off with the child.

The girl ate small portions, despite the ache in her belly for more. Father said to be careful around strangers, she remembered. They could poison you and you'd be dead before you knew you were dying.

Later in the night, Robb sat around a large fire with his fellow nobles. It was relatively silent, a few waves of laughter here and there, but the strange noises—the phantom growling, the yelps, the clicks, the snapping twigs and rustling of the leaves by either wind or creature—killed any merriment.

Curious eyes kept glancing to the girl next to Lady Stark.

What was she doing here? Where had she come from? Where was her family? The last question stuck in Robb Stark's mind through the evening. She was too little to have come all this way from the last village they had left without being noticed, she was too well cared for to _not_ have family. But really, after that puzzling question, came another: If she had family, were they friends or enemies?

"Robb, do you think it wise to keep the girl?" Theon asked quietly from beside him. "If she has family, it would be better to return their girl and not provoke 'em."

"If she has family it's too late and cold to send her back; she'd freeze if the animals don't get her first." Robb replied.

"I don't like this. What the hell is a girl like her doing out here, in the middle of the coldest, darkest piece of hell south of the Wall?" Theon wondered.

With a bit of effort, Robb replied, "I don't know."

Across the fire, the girl on topic sat beside Catelyn, her knees curled up to her chest.

Lady Stark almost flinched at the child's soft voice. "They're coming for me." She turned her head to Lady Stark, who watched her curiously. "You should have let me go." That was the only thing she said for the rest of the night, despite Catelyn and Robb's gentle prodding, Theon Grey joy's intimidating form or Grey Wind's watchful yellow eyes.

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><p>K, I wanna give a shout out to thePatient07, for her fantastic pointers and tips!<br>please don't write off this story because of QOTS

**R&R**,


	2. Chapter 2

Wow, I am really **REALLY** happy at the response to chapter 1! You guys are awesome! =)

Thank you to all who reviewed and to thePatient07 for your very helpful tips!

I own nothing

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

Calloused fingers fan along the frozen earth, feeling where the small footsteps went. The trail was faint, but it was fresh. From the crushed patch of stiff tall grass along the stream, he knew she had been knocked over, and that she had been led west with an unknown group of men, judging by the size of the feet. But when the thicker shrubs started growing again up the hill, the trail went cold.

"Which way?" the girl behind him asked, her voice was cold with fear but was also muffled by the scarf covering her mouth from the cold.

"West. They were a group, no telling how strong." Vyncent told her, standing to his full height. She did her best not to drop her shoulders in disappointment, so instead she dropped her green eyes to the dirt at his boots. They narrowed.

"Look," crouching down, she picked up a small idol made of carved wood. It was the image of the earth goddess, Natalya. Unlike her husband, the sky god Govad, she had a headdress that separated her. All her sisters, including herself, carried it around for protection from the dangers of the forest. There was no question now as to whether Lydia was kidnapped or simply lost. Lydia would not lose her idol.

Exhaling sharply as tears began to sting her cold cheeks, the girl stood, holding out the little idol that she gripped in her hand to her brother. She let him see a brief moment, hearing him sigh, before she turned away, repairing the broken string and setting the heavy object round her neck.

She would give this back to Lydia when they found her. No matter what...

"Sir," a male voice sounded from behind them. Both man and girl turned to face Byron, their trusted scout. "I found this," he held up a decimated carcass of some animal in his gloved hand. "Further down the river. Something big was eating it." Her nose wrinkled in disgust, wondering why Byron had brought the thing to them.

"Bear." Vyncent, her brother, brushed off, seeming not to be effected by the half frozen carcass.

"No sir. The kill is fresh, no more than a day. Whatever animal did this much damage to a doe in so short a time is no animal I've ever seen. Not even a shadow cat can do this; one with _kits_." Byron concluded, tossing the carcass into the bushes. The other man looked inquisitively at his sister.

Neither said a word a moment, letting this new information about an unknown animal traveling with the band of men sink in. Their throats tightened in unease.

"Fallow the trail downriver with Byron, report back if anything is amiss." He ordered her. Quickly, before she could fallow his order, he pulled her small frame into his arms and whispered to her, "Don't be brave." He felt her nod against his neck.

He watched her and Byron disappear into the familiar foliage of their forest, her longbow in her hand, her quiver of arrows strapped to her back. He knew she could defend herself adequately, he knew she could move through the trees without being seen—far better than him— but she was still younger and smaller than him. She was his sister, his blood.

Looking to his left, he clicked his tongue twice, signalling the other men, invisible in the trees and shrubs, to settle in and wait for his sister's return. Bracing himself against a tree, he brought his knees close to him and snuggled deeper into his furs, pulling his scarf around his face.

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><p><em><strong>Next morning<strong>_

Slowly, the camp began to stir. Men went off in the bushes to do their business, the horses nibbled on the grass, tittering in annoyance when they found it was stiff from cold. The few cooks they had with them passed around dry slices of bread for breakfast and the last remaining cinders from their fires the night before were stomped out.

Lydia however, or _the girl_ as the solders knew her, was still deep in the escape of sleep. The night before, she had barely slept, her unease still too strong to let sleep come until the sky began to lighten. The tent had been too warm, the furs and cottons that served as her bed too soft and comfortable.

Lady Catelyn Stark watched the child with worry and curiosity. She had barely slept. Instead she sat up, sitting on the simple little stool in her tent, painfully aware of the girl's presence. Her simple yet ominous words still bothered her, raising disturbing questions in her mind and filling her heart with fear.

_They're coming for me..._

Lydia slept, blissfully unaware of all that happened around her.

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><p>"Vyncent!" Adriena called as her brother slammed his fist into Walter's face once again. Walter, a slimly muscled man of twenty-one, was currently pinned to the ground by Vyncent; his burly frame no match for Walters.<p>

Vyncent paid no mind to his sister's cries of outrage and fear, or his men's attempts at pulling him off Walter. He was too angry to let them pull him off without inflicting as much pain as he could.

His knuckles were bloodied. Some of the crimson stain was Walter's and some was his; Vyncent's knuckles were split from Walter's teeth.

As Vyncent was dragged away, held back by his men, his friends, Adriena quickly went to the man on the ground, half conscious and in obvious pain.

Nervousness swelled within her. She was not adept at comforting or healing. The healing skills she had ended with scrapes or bumps and bruises. She did not know how to deal with Walter for he was obviously too hurt to take Adriena's minimal healing skills.

With caution, Adriena took a bit of Walter's cloak and tore it in a long strip. She then poured some water from her water skin, strapped to her side over the cloth and carefully wiped some blood away from Walter's forehead and cheek as Vyncent roared in anger.

"You were supposed to watch her! Now a bloody militia has her!" *

Adriena spared a solitary glance at her distraught brother. Her green eyes filled with disgust at her brother's vicious behaviour and sadness at the possible loss of her sister. However, unlike Vyncent, she did not blame Walter...much. Lydia had an uncanny ability to disappear from all her guards' sight and there was no stopping her as she usually came back well before she was missed. She knew Vyncent was looking for someone to blame.

Choosing to ignore him, she turned back and continued to clean Walter of the blood and sweat from his face as his glassy eyes blinked away unconsciousness.

Vyncent continued to rage until his fear and grief outweighed his blame on the younger man still lying limp on the ground. Finally, he broke away from the men holding him, but he did not rush to hit Walter again. Instead he turned away, stalking a few feet into the woods to be alone with his thoughts.

When the most of the blood was cleaned off Walter's face, Goliath returned from hunting a small hare for their breakfast and gently pulled her away from Walter to get a better look at him.

Goliath was a large stocky man, as big as her father with red hair and a long beard that began to whiten at the roots. Although he looked like more of a hunter than a healer, he was the best of both. Adriena leaned back against a tree as Goliath began to stitch and clean Walter's forehead, placing ground up herbs against the wound before wrapping his head.

Through the small patch of light coming from the gap in the snowy canopy above, Adriena could tell it was still very early, too early for the army she'd seen that night to awaken.

Adriena felt tears fall from her eyes at the sight of the giant encampment. There was no way to get Lydia without attracting trouble and she could not stop thinking of all the atrocities being done to her. It made her sick. No one knew what men were capable of, she thought as she eyed Walter. When she told Vyncent she could see the torment behind his eyes.

Vyncent was the eldest of them, twenty-two and the only son born. He became an older brother at four, when Adriena was born. That little bundle of squirming pink limps and whining coos, so _fragile_... that was when he vowed to watch over and protect all siblings after him. Now he had four to watch over, all girls. With Lydia kidnapped, Adriena knew guilt was beginning to eat away at him. He was the eldest and the only son, the one to watch over his sisters. With one gone who was to fault if not him?

Still, Adriena thought, it is not right. It disgusted her that Vyncent had so brutally beaten Walter to make himself feel better. Vyncent didn't have the luxury of self-loathing when Lydia was held captive by a band on militia men marching to do gods knew what.

Not long after, when Walter leant against a tree—looking better in spite of the bruises and the cuts on his face—and Vyncent returned but still glared into thin air, Symon spoke up.

"What will we do, Vyncent?" The six other men looked up at him, but Adriena was still disappointed at his earlier behaviour to look at his face. Instead she looked at the tree he leant on, her arms crossed over her chest.

She bit her lips as he began to speak his plan, wanting to speak out against it but refraining. Her brother was determined, and her voice would be lost among his orders. So she remained quiet, and did as she was bid, hoping that her father would speak against Vyncent's orders when he learnt of them.

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><p>Eh, there were some recently edited parts that I'm not so sure of, I've kinda hit a bit of writers block :(<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

**Shout out to my lovely beta thePatient07! **  
><strong>:O WOW! Thank you all soooo much for your reviews! <strong>

**I don't own a thing**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Adriena had never been more terribly uncertain in her life. The moss covered tree behind her concealed her from the eyes of the men marching through the wide gully but she still felt as though it was not enough. Every movement of the others around her (hidden by the shrubs), made her flinch and glare in their direction.

The strange sound of twelve-hundred footsteps thundering through her forest was deafening and perverse to her, so unfamiliar and although she disapproved of Vyncent's plan, she was at loss for an alternative. They, her village, had never had to deal with this type of situation before. Bandits and slave traders were left alone unless they crept too close to Hoff, in which case they were killed so they could not breathe their forest's secrets. But how could they successfully destroy a militia?

Turning slowly, she faced south, the direction where the army was marching. The dead leaves crunched under her boots, sending an unpleasant tickle of fear up her back until, finally, her chest pressed against the tree, the cold seeming to seep into her cotton dress and doe skin undershirt and trousers as it often did these days. The twin _Natalya's_ pressed painfully into her breasts as she observed them, but she did not ease up, too afraid she would attract their attention.

She watched as the men, some on foot and others on horses, traveled along, until there were only a handful of wagons passing. She had not seen Lydia's small and recognizable form, and for a long second she wondered if they did, indeed, have her. But her doubt was smothered by the weight around her neck.

The wagons soon scurried away, and the only remains of their presence was the trampled earth where they had stomped.

"Sss!" someone hissed from farther ahead to her left. Inclining her head slightly, she saw a pair of dark brown eyes watching her from the small berry bush at the top of the gully edge. The men below did not seem to notice. The man, Symon of the Oakswood, motioned quickly toward where the militia had gone and Adriena understood. Fallow them, and get ready.

She slowly did as she was bid, feeling her knees trembling and her heart starting to speed in her chest.

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><p>The march progressed slowly, and Robb was beginning to grow impatient. Nearly six days they had traveled through this forest and for nearly six days the darkness unnerved him and his men, the cold chilled to their bones and the strange noises frightened them like children listening to a thunder storm.<p>

It was ridiculous! They were grown men, not weepy little children. They were at war, not cowering from the things in the dark. The girl and her ominous words did not help either...

The little dark haired child was presently clinging to the horse's mane with all her might, her terrified eyes stuck to where her small hands gripped. She had not struggled as she was swung up on the horse, but she seemed to be terrified of the animal's height...or of them. His lady mother was behind her, deftly guiding the horse.

Robb did feel guilty about not looking for her family, but they could not afford a day's delay. The other half of his army was nearing Pinkmaiden and if they paused to look for her family, it could potentially be disastrous.

It would be taxing to send out scouts for the tedious task of looking for the family that the girl belonged to, and he doubted that any of his men would be eager to slip into the surrounding thicket. And who was to assume that those who were "coming" for her were family and not something else, something malevolent? If so, it would be safer if she stayed with them...he hoped. Robb would never let his men see, but he was just as confused about the girl as the rest of them. He didn't even like admitting that to himself.

The winter chill moved the trees in a mesmerizing sway, and apart from the rustle and crackle of dry leaves and branches, their surroundings were silent. A loud bell of warning sounded in the back of Robb's mind. It was so silent, when that same time yesterday, growls and shrieks and snapping twigs were a constant thing. What had changed?

Even so, he carried on, regardless of the bells of warning ringing in the back of his mind. It was probably just curious animals, ones that fled as soon as they realized their number size.

The snap of a branch was muted by the whisper of the wind; the clicks of command were mistaken for the creaks of the wagons of trots of the horses. In the coming hours Robb would deny these signs, he would swear up and down that they came from nowhere, appeared into the air like the ghosts the old man in the village had told them about. He refused to admit that they offered him any sort of warning.

A screech, so sudden and loud it made them flinch and the horses rear, sounded from the left side of the gully.

Men abruptly fell to the cold ground, arrows jutting from their chests, as others were met with other bodies crashing to them, dull steel blades slicing at them but not doing much damage.

It was impossible to tell how many there were of these people, everything moved too quickly and none of their eyes were fixated on their numbers at the moment. All they knew was danger, and the people charging at them with determination in their wild eyes.

Adriena watched from above, her bow poised on the old man coming at Symon from behind, hatchet raised with clear intention. She aimed, shot and her arrow hit its mark: the man's shoulder. She could have shot him dead in the chest, but her moral values kept her bow set on non-lethal wounds.

"Stupid Vyncent," she hissed from between her clenched teeth as she reloaded her bow. Him and his damn need to have his way! The sheer size of the army below her should have made him choose a different plan of action, but _no_, he had to be Vyncent and plan a stupid ambush that they would most likely lose!

She raged on, her heart pounding in her ears, as she shot her arrow again, the shaft whizzing past her fingers and missing, hitting the side of a cart. A small voice inside her whispered that she didn't even have a plan, so why was she criticizing Vyncent's scheme, but she was suddenly pulled away from that line of thinking when an arrow, one not from Hoff, whistled toward her and pierced the tree bark beside her.

Startled, she dropped her bow, and in the coming moments she would chastise herself harshly for such a stupid reaction. Then lost her footing.

Letting out a scream of terror and surprise, she felt her foot slip forward on the branch where she crouched, her bottom hitting the branch and her leg twisting painfully, before her body fell into open air. Instinct took over and she did the only thing her body could think: grab.

Her hands scratched at air for a long second, and then finally met the bark. She did not feel the pain as wood tore at her hands, breaking her nails, but she felt a tremendous feeling of relief when she finally latched onto something that did not break the second she grasped it. Unfortunately, it _did_ break a scant moment later.

The delay cushioned her fall at the base of the tree. She landed on her side with a grunt that quickly turned into a shriek of horror and pain when she felt a searing, slicing pain in her side. Tears welled in her eyes faster than she could realize and a series of sharp cries tore from her throat when she shifted her body to feel her side. A warm, wet substance wetted her fingers, and she whimpered realizing it was blood. Adriena had not found the source of her pain, and at feeling the blood on her side, she did not want to. She feared what she would feel if she searched further.

She rolled onto her back, her mind reeling with surprise. _Am I dying_, she thought frantically. Did an arrow get me, did I break all my ribs...will I be able to give Lydia back _Natalya?_

She must have moved, because suddenly, she was rolling, the slightly angled surface gave way to a sudden drop off.

Her body was battered against the cold and rocky surface, her side screaming, until it finally came to a stop at the floor of the gully. Panting and whimpering, she opened her eyes to find a dark haired boy with wavy hair in front of her, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Oh how I wish I had my bow, Adriena thought as pain began to pound through her body from its previous adventure.

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><p>Robb slashed at the men as they came at him. He blocked their blows as Grey Wind snapped and tore at his side. The dire wolf's muzzle was red with blood, his snout pulled back to bare his sharp, dagger like fangs.<p>

Around him, the sound of metal meeting metal and cries of pain and fear, echoed through the air. For a moment, he almost forgot he was in a (supposedly) uninhabited, virtually quiet forest.

As he kicked a man coming at him away, he used the free moment to dart his eyes around for his mother and the girl. His heart plummeted when he saw their chestnut horse dead on its side, three arrows jutting from its neck.

A brutal blow to the back of his shoulder, which nearly knocked the wind from his lungs, distracted his attention. A pounding sort of pain came from his back and he nearly lost his grip on his sword but tightened his grip on the hilt before he whirled around to face his attacker, sword raised and his chest heaving from exuberance.

He was Robb's age, hay coloured hair hanging down past his ears, green eyes hard and cold and unreadable. In his hand was a large club, the crown of it adorned with small blunt spikes. Despite its simple look, the blood splattered on it proved it to be a deadly weapon. The pounding in his back seemed to grow more intense for a second at seeing the club.

Wasting no time, Vyncent lunged at the man. The blow to his back should have killed the bastard, but an arrow had nearly hit him and his surprise had weakened the impact.

Vyncent's swing was blocked by Robb sword, but it was not without a lot of effort on Robb's part. The bloody club was _heavy! _Robb pushed the club away, making Vyncent stumble back. For a long second they stared at one another, circling, waiting for the other to make the first move. It was Robb, this time that lunged with his sword raised high.

The _thudding_ sound of wood and steel slamming together was almost all that was heard in the gully. The soldiers of Robb's army stopped to watch their King fight against the large man with the club that had killed at least a dozen men with a single hit. They watched, waiting to see if King Robb would need help. The people of Hoff paused to stare at Vyncent, a little confused as to why all the soldiers had stopped to stare.

The confusion was short lived, however, when one woman from Hoff took her meagre stone knife and sliced at the soldier holding her to the ground. Then the chaos started once again, although not as fast and violent as before.

Not everyone was fighting now. Many were injured, many were dead and many were watching the battle between their leaders.

Near where Robb and Vyncent clashed, a group of Hoff men tried to unite against Grey Wind, but at his mighty jaws snapping at them, they jumped back in fear before turning and running for an easier target. Grey Wind continued to snap and tear at the men who came too close, to him or his master.

Robb yelled out as the club crashed down on his bicep. The hurt in his body began to mount up. His mouth was bloodied by when his opponent punched him with his free hand, his leg was aching where the club's blunt spikes had hit and his back was still pounding where the club had hit first.

Vyncent was no better. The sword had managed to slice at his arms and legs a bit, but the club had protected him from any deadly stabs.

Then, suddenly, by some stroke of unfortunate luck, Robb's sword came down on Vyncent's hand, perfectly and horribly. The way they faced one another, Robb had managed to slice off Vyncent's ring and little finger on his right hand.

Vyncent screamed out in pain and dismay as he watched his fingers fall away to the rocky gully floor. His grip on his club loosened and Robb took the opportunity to knock the larger man to the ground, kicking the club away from his useless hand.

There was a collective gasp from the savage people who had ambushed them and for a second Robb paused to get a better look at the clubsman. Without that intense, hateful look on his face, he looked no older than Robb. Robb felt a tug at him as he saw the face that once held such anger and abhorrence turn to fear and shock.

The gully was silent as they all watched, waiting for Robb to do what he was about to do. His sword rose.

"No!" someone shrieked.

Robb looked up to where the desperate cry had come from and his eyes landed on a woman, on her knees, facing him, Theon holding her by her dark hair. It was then Robb noticed that some of the savages that attacked them had been _women_.

They were not gorgeously stunning as he realized; in fact they looked like any woman of the north with pale skin, dark hair and bright eyes. They were akin to the young girl they had found the day before: surprisingly well groomed.

This only confused him further. They were not defenceless, petite creatures. They held weapons in their hands. Some wielded bows and arrows, others daggers and axes. They held them so confidently, without a tremor in their small hands that most young men have at the first feeling of a real weapon.

Had they been slicing at _women _as well? The thought horrified Robb. He realized he was still watching the woman Greyjoy held by her hair.

Her green eyes, wide, fearful..._pleading_. He lowered his sword. She knew this man in some way and in some way she was attached to him. He could not kill him with her eyes watching. Too many had died today, and the killing a man in front of a dear loved one did not appeal to Robb in the least.

So he stood back, yelled out his commands that the strangers drop their weapons and answer his questions. After a moment of hesitance, the people of Hoff did as they were ordered, the women beginning to shift closer to the men without their means of protection.

Robb took a mental inventory of all they'd lost and all the men who were dead when a voice screamed out in glee: "ADRIENA!"

With no fear, the little girl ran from under the overturned cart where she and Catelyn had been hiding and darted for the dark haired woman Theon restrained. She threw herself into her arms, clinging to her as tightly as she clung to the horse. Theon released his grip on the woman in surprise, but stayed close so she would not try anything.

Robb sighed. Vyncent glared hatefully up at him before he tried to sit up, only to be forsed back down by Grey Wind's menacing growl.

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><p>Yeah, just...yeah. Hope this was worth the wait!<p>

R&R please!


	4. Chapter 4

**Well, EEE! I got this chappie done in record time! **

**Once again: A bazillion thanks to thePatient07, because without her insight, this chapter would not be half done.**

**R&R please! ;)**

**Thank you to all who reviewed!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

The gully was littered with bodies, some writhing in agony, others so horribly _still_. Out of a new found hatred, the savage people and the soldiers separated from another, one group on one side, the other on the opposite. However, it was very clear in the air that one of them were now prisoners. It was not difficult to tell which.

The strangers' wounded were tended to with the few supplies the bitter and angry northerners had given them at Robb's behest, and the gully was a symphony of cries, heavy breathing, an odd scream and angry mutterings. Robb could not remember anymore why he had opted to enter the forest with the lesser half of his army.

Robb had long since had his injuries looked after, relieved they were only bad bruises and shallow cuts. From his place at the southern end of the furrow, he looked to the side of the strange and savage enemy. But they weren't savage...at least they didn't look the part. They did not resemble any wildling he'd ever seen, their clothing wasn't thick enough, their hair not matted enough.

So what were they? A band of raiders, slave traders or mummers. Southern common folk hoping to end the war and Robb's rebellion with a single strike? His men had done a fine job of disarming them, but as he looked around, seeing members of his own army laying unmoving and bloody, he felt another bout of bitter defeat rise in his chest, along with the heavy feeling of guilt and wounded pride.

Why had they done this! The girl had been well treated, no hand laid upon her (save for when Grey Wind pinned her to the cold ground), and on top of that she would not say where she was from and where her family was. It wasn't as if he could leave her in the forest, alone and defenceless.

She was a child. Anger steadily began to build up in Robb's chest.

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><p>"Scream, girl. Scream if it helps." Luna whispered, remembering all the times her aunt had told her mother that when she gave birth to one of her many siblings. Adriena panted and braced herself against Luna's arm as Goliath's hands drew closer to her injured side.<p>

Her wound was worse than she had thought. Poison red thorns had grown below the tree where she had landed, the small sharp rock that dug itself deep into the soft flesh beneath her ribs, had allowed the thorns prick into the wound and stay embedded there. Small, almost numbing, stings pulsed from the thorns rooted in the wound, and she could already feel a cold sweat lining her brow. The poison thorns wouldn't kill her, but it if they were not taken out quickly, they would make her sick for days. Her fever would all but boil her from the inside as the veins where the thorns had pricked forever stained red.

Adriena's arms curled around the one Luna wound around her front, a small cry tearing from her throat as Goliath quickly plucked the thorns from her side. It hurt much more coming out than it did going in. Next, without waiting for Adriena to catch her breath, Goliath took the small sharp poker to dig the three inch long rock out.

Compared to that, the thorns were the easy part.

Eyes, cold northern eyes, looked where the pain filled wail had come from. The woman was red faced and screaming, her arms clutching the arm of her friend to her chest as the big, ginger haired man worked her wound. From where they stood, Robb and Theon could only see her bare and pale back and her wavy dark hair, her dress having been pushed away to better dress her lesion.

"Think she's giving birth." Theon scoffed. He'd been in the castle when Catelyn gave birth to the younger counterparts of her brood. Robb only shook his head; the screams of the green eyed girl making him flinch and his heart fill with unwanted sympathy.

By the time the rock was finally out, Adriena's throat was raw feeling, her jaw aching from clenching so hard. There was so much relief when Goliath began to clean and bind the wound, the dull sting barely registering in her mind.

Goliath stood. Adriena was still slumped against Luna's outstretched arm, tears wetting her cheeks. Luna's legs were beginning to cramp from her crouched position beside Adriena, but she still continued to rub her back in soothing circles.

"I'll...leave you to it." Goliath grunted, turning to limp away. His right leg was bandaged in linens, courtesy of angry militia men.

Luna sighed as she watched him leave to tend to other Hoff villagers, and carefully laid Adriena back. Adriena moaned at the movement, her arms were still weakly clutching her clothing to her chest. When Goliath finally got to Adriena after tending to Vyncent's hand, they had to untie her dress and doe skin under shirt but Adriena flat refused to let it go. Luna couldn't blame her. When she began to tug the stings on her dress, men—both northern and Hoff-born—looked up in sudden interest.

Adriena's eyes fluttered shut, and her thoughts began to dim away, but she forced herself awake. But soon, she felt her cloak draped over her and she couldn't resist the abyss of sleep anymore, even if her back was beginning to go numb on the rocky, uneven floor.

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><p>Vyncent couldn't stop staring at the bandaged part of his hand. Two little fingers...gone...who knew how light and empty his hand could feel without them. The pain was there, shooting, stabbing and burning. But he could not feel it. He could only see it, like an outsider looking in, with the horrible burden of knowing it was <em>his<em> hand he was looking down at.

"What the hell were you thinking?" an angry voice suddenly demanded. Looking up, he met the eyes of the red haired prick that'd done this to him...the one everyone else in the goddamned militia fallowed.

"You stole a girl yesterday. We wanted her back." Vyncent spat shortly, glaring at the younger man without fear. Robb glared right back, and Vyncent was the first to break the staring contest.

"We didn't _steal_ her. We _found_ her, out there alone in the middle of nowhere. What kind of man leaves a child alone like that?" Robb spat. After the little dark haired girl pried herself away from the woman—_Adriena_—she looked right at the fair haired man still on the ground and called out "Vyncent!" Robb knew then that the little girl was attached to this _Vyncent_ in some way, just as the green eyed Adriena was.

That seemed to strike a nerve because in a second, Vyncent was up, staring Robb down. "You don't know _nothing_; about me, my family or my home." Vyncent's eyes darted as some men shifted behind Robb, their gloved hands resting on the hilts of their swords in clear warning. Seeing imminent danger if he continued to run his mouth, Vyncent stepped back and turned away, stalking toward Symon, who had taken a stab to his shoulder.

Robb knew he should go and demand all the information from him, but his feet remained planted on the ground. It was too late in the day, and it wasn't as if Vyncent or anyone in his gang was going anywhere, Robb thought as he eyed the guards lined up along the walls of the trench. If any of these people tried to escape, his men would cut them down.

Robb knew they needed get moving, but they couldn't now. Not for at least another three nights. And now with these people, these people who'd ambushed them so suddenly with no warning, it was clear they would not make it in time to meet the other half of the host. As they nursed their wounded, a messenger was running back to the last town they'd passed though, and from there, he'd send a raven to Lord Bolton (the man commanding the other half of his army), informing him of the snag they found themselves caught in.

The sky had darkened to a dark blue and the night was growing colder. The sharp cries of pain were staring to quieten.

"Robb," the familiar voice of his mother sounded from behind him. He turned his body and saw her watching him. Catelyn and the girl had miraculously found a safe haven in all the confusion, the only hurt they had obtained was the bruised knees from kneeling so long and scraped palms from falling and landing so hard.

From the look on her face, he knew she had seen the interaction between him and Vyncent, and by the look on her face he knew she wanted him to do something more. Robb only looked at her with his hard face and she knew her silent advice would not be heeded. He was a king now after all, and it seems that it is not fitting for king's to have mothers or take their words to heart.

There would be no sleep tonight, at least not for Robb.

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><p>Lydia lay curled up against her sleeping sister, her little fingers curling and twisting into her long hair. All she wanted at that moment was to disappear. She was in <em>so much trouble<em>. Even though Adriena held onto her until Goliath pulled her away to inspect her cut, she had seen Vyncent's eyes when she called to him. He looked so angry with her.

Luna, from her perch on a boulder, had even looked at Lydia with annoyed eyes.

At least she was safe! Addry was with her now and so were Vyncent and almost all of their village! Now that they saw she was with them, the beast-master-man would let them go...right? He had to, he couldn't keep them. Yes, surely he'd let them go when they were all well and able enough for travel.

Even though she was still scared of the punishment she would receive when she got back home, she was very happy to be back in the arms of her family. Well...Adriena wasn't in any condition to have her arms around her, but Lydia could fix that!

Laying her head against the arm behind her head, Lydia carefully curved her short arm over her sister's midriff and closed her eyes, willing sleep to come.

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><p>It was almost light when Robb heard the loud exclaim of shock and fear.<p>

He was sitting on a large over turn tree that had fallen in the gully, what must have been years ago, when the cry slashed through the night air. Grey Wind's ears perked up, his large head darting to where the cry had come, before getting to his paws and trotting off toward the sound. Robb went along side him.

Adriena jumped awake, startling her sister beside her and jostling her injured side. She hissed and slumped back down, whimpering when the deep gouge in her side moved once again. Vyncent, from his seat against the gully wall, about six feet from his sisters, snapped his head up at the sound.

The scrape of steel unsheathing from the scabbard resounded in the air, making those who had been lingering on the edge of sleep jump up in fear.

"No, wait! _Wait_!" a deep voice pleaded. Vyncent shot to his feet and rushed toward the commotion, north of the gully, where Robb and a few of his men were running now.

Slumped at the base of the slanted wall of the channel, was a man. A _large_ man, obviously just pushed over the lip of the gully by the men up top. Absently, Robb wondered how his men could've gotten such a fat man such as him over the edge...

"Da!" Vyncent exclaimed in clear happiness and surprise. Vyncent's father was fat, aforementioned, with shoulder length pale yellow hair and blue eyes, and his features matched Vyncent's. There was no doubt that the man was Vyncent's father.

"Get him up." Robb ordered his men. Vyncent didn't even protest, he just helped the other two men get his father to his feet. "What's your name?"

For a moment he looked startled, but when the large man's eyes darted to the large animal at the younger man's feet, his face visibly paled. A wolf..._a huge wolf_! He had never seen one, nor had his father or his great grandfather...but the dark omens surrounding their presence had lived through the ages. Hoff's forest had not seen a dire wolf prowling their lands in a thousand years, not since...the White Walkers roamed about, killing all that was warm, freezing the world over. A dire wolf, here again, his children missing, his village missing... the signs the gods were sending him were not good ones. Gods have mercy.

"Arwin, Lord Chief of the Hoff people." It was by sheer luck Arwin didn't stutter and disgrace himself when he spoke.

"These are your people then." Robb said. It was more of a statement than a question. Arwin paused at the look on the boy's face, so full of anger and annoyance. Then he took a quick look back at the wolf, seeing its ears twitch and its big yellow eyes blink.

"Yes."

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><p><strong>When I wrote about Lydia, I had a little flashback on my nephew. He used to play with our hair when we napped. He's almost in the double digits now :( time flies<strong>

**Okay, now that my 'aw' moment is over, please click the button, or Grey Wind will come after you and growl at you until you do...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi! So, yeah, next chapter ahoy! ****Thanks to my beta, thePatient07, **

**thanks to 97hollster, thePatient07 and gabbi3! ;) You guys feed**** my gerbil in the wheel in my head, and thank you to my laptop :D  
><strong>**AND George RR Martin! **

**Enjoy! **

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

Arwin of Hoff's haggling skills seemed to have not shown themselves over the last few hours he had been in Robb's tent. They were still prisoners; they were still threatened with swords and arrows if they tried to leave, not that anyone tried to. Nothing had changed much since Arwin disappeared with Robb into the tent for negotiations.

Hoff and the northern army were still divided in a tense standstill. Adriena and her sister and brother sat together on a series of large clustered rocks near where the red haired man's tent had been erected. Adriena and Vyncent had heard whispers of the name of their lead captor—Robb, they said, King of the North.

But they could just as easily be lying. What king would go around with a measly army of only just over a thousand? What king would come through their dwelling? Only raiders and outlaws and slave traders came through this way. In the far east of Westeros, the Kingsroad cut through towns and small outposts, they offered far better comfort than the far west of the Hoff's forest. What made them travel through here?

Adriena did not know the answers to these questions, but then again, none of the Hoff people did.

Lydia held her sister's hand in her own. When she saw her father's big round form approaching in the early dawn light, her heart jumped for joy inside her and she scrambled up to greet him, but Vyncent rushed forward and held her back. He had not said a word to her since they had reunited, and Lydia did not try to change that, fearing what wrath may await her.

Adriena laid propped against the gully wall, her face drenched in a cold sweat. The poison thorns were not taken out quickly enough but Goliath insisted that with a good night's rest, the fever would burn itself out. But when would she get a good night's sleep? The world was out of focus because her eyes could not manage to stay open more than a few moments, but thankfully her ears worked perfectly.

Out of boredom, her free right hand began to run its fingers along the rough rock she sat on. A smell suddenly flittered under her nose: the burningly sweet smell of sweet-leaves.

Looking down the long line of Hoff people against the gully wall, she saw long wisps of smoke coming from Hylon Sweet-Leaves' pipe. His bald head was turned the other way, glaring at some soldier who was outright staring at him with hatred. Beside him sat his son, Glen, his fourth son and _almost_ Adriena's husband.

Adriena's mind flashed back to the time when she sat outside the Sweet-Leafs' cottage, the sickly sweet smell of the leaves burning in the air, her father inside with Hylon as he haggled her bride price.

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><p><em><strong>Adriena age 5<strong>_

_Adriena's little hands idly picked at the wooden splinters jutting harmlessly from the tree stump she sat upon. Her feet kicked at the stump, until she grew bored of that as well. _

_The smell emitting from the Sweet-Leaf family's small cottage burned her button nose, but Helsa would've smacked her hand down if she tried to cover it. The old crone her father had employed to be a surrogate mother was a poor choice. Helsa was always snappish! _

_The front of the cottage was to their backs, and every now and then a raised voice would sound through the thin wall, but it was too muffled to tell what was being said. _

_Why was she even here? Her father had said _no_ to her playing with Luna and subsequently, her little siblings. Why was he being mean? Why did he leave her here with Helsa? He knew how nasty _she could be!_ Angrily, the child gave an especially hard kick to the stump only to let out a small grunt at the pain that began to pulse at her heel. _

_She and the old woman had been sitting here for a long time. The sunlight tinted green through the luscious leaves above them and the sweet singing larks chirping their songs to one another. When one of those small brownish birds landed atop the hatchet stuck into the chopping stump, Arwin and Hylon of the Sweet-Leaves came bursting out the door, their haggling argument so loud it made Adriena jump. _

"_I'm giving you my eldest girl! I will settle for no less, than five sheep, four chickens, half your harvest of summer fruit, and, of course, your first two sons sent to work for a year at my dwelling." Arwin grumbled with annoyance. Adriena wrinkled her nose in confusion. Were they talking about her? _

"_Ha! If anything you should be giving me that fine dowry!" Hylon, a thin, balding man countered with a sarcastic jibe. _

"_What?" both Arwin and Helsa shrieked in outrage. Helsa jumped up from the stump with surprising force for her brittle appearance. _

"_Your girl there isn't gonna get much. All the families will be fighting for you boys' betrothal to one o' their daughters. And you have three girls already..." Hylon finished with a self satisfied smirk. With shock, Adriena realized what they were talking about. Betrothal? No! She didn't want to marry one of the Sweet-Leaf boys, they smelt and she didn't like them! _

_Whimpering, Adriena ran for her father, grabbing his hand with all the force she had in her small body and looked up at him with her large green eyes. _

"_Adriena will be the next Councilwoman when she's grown," Arwin spat, paying no attention to the girl. "Even suggesting she'll call for anything less is outrageous! You insult me Hylon!" Arwin exclaimed in annoyance. _

_Hylon's face depicted shock and worry. Adriena's little heart swelled in hope, looking up at her father with big watery eyes. Arwin glared at Hylon a second longer before he spoke. _

"_Forget my offer Hylon. My daughter will wed someone who is not the seed of a great and stupid fool."_

_And with that, Arwin turned on his heel and walked away, his head held high and his broad shoulders back. Adriena started after him a moment in hopeful wonder before running after him to trail behind him, leaving a dumbstruck Helsa and Hylon behind. _

_She was not free from betrothal however. One day her father would make a match for her, and she could only hope it wasn't a boy from a family as stupid and weird as the Sweet-Leaf family. _

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><p><em>Present day<em>

Thirteen years later, the memory still made Adriena smile a little. Looking once again back to the man that would have been her husband, Adriena immediately saw Glen's distinctive light red hair. Glen had been, well, _splotchy_ as a child, with red hair, owl big eyes and freckles spattered all over his pale face. He lost most of the splotchy red spots, but everything else remained the same. He was still smelly and weird.

Her brother's pain filled hiss drew her attention back toward the south and toward his injured hand. Adriena's lips twisted into a weak grimace at he picked at the blood stained bandage. She looked back to her brother's twisted face. Most people didn't think they looked alike, and they were right, they didn't.

Vyncent was tall and broad, his hair blonde and straight, his features straight and angular. He had an almost unnoticeable mole on his jaw, obscured by the beard that was beginning to grow.

Adriena was about as tall as any woman, not exactly lean and petite as Gwyn or Lydia (although Lydia was small because she was still young), but that was because _their_ mother was lean and petite. Adriena had grown like her own mother: strong but lean. Her long hair was the colour of rich soil and curled. Her skin was pale and her lips were pink and fill. Samyella, her mother's sister, always commented that she was like her mother, inside and out. Adriena wouldn't know. She'd died when Adreina was two, when Kimya was born.

She looked away from her brother's disgusting wound, and to the tent, hoping that her father would not give up and walk away again if this King person presented a plan that he did not like.

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><p>"We can't just let all of your villagers go, they <em>attacked<em> us." Robb sighed for what felt like the thousandth time. He had repeatedly told this _Arwin_ man this, but it seems that Arwin was deaf to that fact.

"But my lord," Arwin protested. It felt incredibly odd on his tongue to be showing such respect to this..._bo_y_!_ "W-we are a peaceful village, my children only wanted their youngest sister back and, uh...overreacted." he offered weakly. By the look that flashed in Robb's blue eyes, Arwin knew he was treading on very thin ice.

"And managed to kill near forty of my men." Robb countered back in a bitter voice. He could understand why the Hoff people had attacked—he was going south to wage war for half of that reason—but as a king, he had to be strict so his men and his people would not lose faith or respect for him.

Arwin's gut twisted in guilt and fear. Whoever this boy-lord was, he obviously had _a lot _of sway among these men and from what Vyncent had whispered to him earlier, it was quite likely that he had more men on the other side of the forest. The dire wolf that currently laid by the lad's feet could be one of many...

"You are s-strangers in our forest, and my children acted on simple instinct—" Theon cut of Arwin's next bout of rambling.

"You're talking to the King of the North. Simple _instinct_, says you bend your knee to him." Theon snapped impatiently.

Robb had not told Arwin of his new title as King of the North, it had not crossed his mind. But when Theon made the fat man aware of the fact, it certainly did change Arwin's tone.

For a long moment, Arwin was silent, shock playing across his features. Then he knelt.

"I am sorry, your grace," Robb raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Please, spare my village. We will do whatever you bid." Arwin pledged. Arwin was not a feeble man by any means, except when faced with the desolation of his village. He had seen the size of this man's army, he saw the dire wolf at his feet, and he saw the ruin of his children's little band of marauders at their hands. This King could destroy them all, and no one would know how much had been ruined. Nearly three hundred years of history lived within them and he would defend his village to the last breath if he had to. Bending his knee to a man who was called 'king' was not so hard.

Gods forgive his lack of pride, but the only way to ensure his villages' survival was by grovelling and pleading.

After a tense moment, Robb spoke. "You will give us your two eldest children as assurance that you and your people will not attack again, lest you want to ever see them again. They will be treated as _civilly_." Although Robb couldn't really promise that. Arwin's eldest son had commanded the attack and his daughter had participated in it. _At the very least_ Arwin's eldest faced beatings and constant jibes ahead of them, but Robb would try to stop it. They had done wrong, but he could not abide it if they were cornered by an army of men, especially the woman.

"For how long?" Arwin choked. His eldest...his heirs...taken by this King with a dire wolf? The prospect made him want to beg Robb otherwise but he couldn't.

"Until we can trust you." Robb replied simply.

"Your grace, the men won't take kindly to this." Theon muttered from behind him. Robb did not reply. How else would they ensure a safe passage to the other side? How else would he guarantee that these people did not go to the Lannister's and sing of what they knew?

"You will also pledge fealty to the Stark Dynasty and to all northern Kings hereafter." Robb was about to say something more, when a loud yelp fallowed by an uproar from outside drew their attention to the north end of the gully.

Grey Wind's large head shot up, a low, threatening growl rumbling through his chest.

Theon rolled his eyes and muttered, "I'm getting really tired of these people and their bloody surprises. Next thing ya know their women will be showing us their cocks." Neither Robb nor Catelyn (who had been sitting by silently) paid the young man any attention. War had made them cautious of any startling sounds. Arwin, however, gave the boy a disgusted as well as insulted look.

The bright light blinded Robb a moment as he stepped out into the gully. There were no trees on the gully floor and so, no snow covered canopy of branches above them, and therefore the bright white sky was visible. As soon as his vision cleared, his lake blue eyes darted over to the swarm of bodies at the north end of the gully.

He could see the large bodies of a handful of soldiers struggling to get a hold on some villagers. Most of their backs were turned, but the jerks of their bodies made it clear enough what was going on. What? Were they trying to _escape? _

"Papa!" a feminine voice chirped.

Gwyn struggled against the man holding her arms behind her. Her pale skin would surely sport purple bruises tomorrow. She whimpered as he gave an especially hard jerk. Her lungs burned and her legs felt rubbery from her long dash to where she was now. The other five girls that ran away with her, the girls she had been sewing with before she heard an unfamiliar man call out orders, whimpered and panted as they struggled.

"Stop!" two very different voices cried out. The next few seconds went by very fast. Vyncent shot up from his place beside his sisters and began to run to where Gwyn was struggling. Lydia stood to her feet, but remained frozen in place for reasons she did not fully understand. Adriena looked to where the action was happening with hazy eyes. Was that _Gwyn?_

Robb was struck dumb for a moment as Vyncent collided with two other soldiers who then held the man back and away from the girl. As Gwyn fell to the hard and rocky ground with a yelp, Robb yelled out, "Enough!"

At the loud voice, echoed by a menacing growl from Grey Wind the gully fell silent, save for the whimpers from the captives the soldiers held.

Taking the opportunity, Gwyn stood quickly on her burning legs and began to run toward her father, staggering in exhaustion and pain. One of the other girls behind her yelped as she was roughly cast aside by her captor. In a flash, Gwyn had an arm around her middle, her feet dangling in the air as the man behind her lifted her lean body upwards. Her stomach was squished painfully and she coughed as the strong arm squeezed.

"Papa!" Gwyn gasped. Arwin bit his tongue, wanting so much to get the man away from his daughter, but unable to if he wanted truce. "Papa. Men! In the village!" Gwyn panted, her green eyes—ones that matched all her siblings perfectly—flashed in terror. "Red men in armour! They're in Hoff! They're in _Hoff_!" she screeched so loud that across the gully a hundred yards away, Arwin, Robb, Catelyn and Theon all heard her, as well as everyone in between.

The Hoff people began to stir fearfully, their eyes darting around, and an anxious whisper turned into a frightened wave of shouts in almost the same instant.

"Natalya save us, we're no longer safe!" an elder woman screeched, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Dragons!" a man cried.

"We can fight them!" a young lad of thirteen yelled.

There were many more things yelled in the twenty seconds Robb and other the other northerners stood dumbfounded, but it was too loud to hear them all.

"Silence!" He yelled. They continued. "_SILENCE_!" He shouted louder. Robb's voiced echoed off the trees as the Hoff people began to settle.

Adriena swayed on her feet, her head pounding painfully and the world spinning as she stood. Her cloak was not fastened properly and hung low on her shoulders. Her dark brown hair was damp and beginning to stick to her forehead and on top of that, the pain in her side began to thrum _every time_ her side moved. She had to go back to Hoff with the others, she thought deliriously. Kimya, Kimya's waiting...they were going to, they were going to...what were they going to do? She closed her eyes as a terrible flash of heat came over her.

Lydia let go of her sister, oblivious to the fact that she was ill, darting past her and toward their father. She made sure to run extra fast as she past the monster. Thankfully it didn't seem to notice her. Once her small hands crashed to her father's round belly and curled into fists, she felt a little safer. She loved Adriena, she was the most loving and comforting woman in her life, but the comfort of a parent was like no other kind. One of Arwin's large pudgy hands rested on her shoulder and kept her close.

Robb briskly approached the girl still held by the large man. She had brown locks falling around her heart shaped face and her eyes widened at seeing him approach. Her eyes never left his face as he approached, silently noting how handsome he was, even if he looked a good deal older than her thirteen years.

"Red men in armour?" Robb asked curiously before coming to a stop before her.

The young girl did not flinch at the strangers question like most of these Hoff people seemed to. In fact her cheeks seemed to flush a little. "Yes." she nodded rapidly, her eyes alight with mixed emotion. "Yes, red men with golden cats on the back." Robb froze his eyes wide.

_Lannister_.

Adriena panted softly as she tried to hear what was going on, but the spinning world around her was giving her a headache. _It's so warm_, she though before her legs gave out from under her. Her world went black and she gladly gave herself over to unconsciousness.

"Adriena!" she heard one of her sisters yell. Then nothing.

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><p>I'm very sorry if any of this doens't make sense, but hopfully I can explain it clearer in the future!<br>Also, just for my own sanity, yes, **Adriena, Vyncent, Lydia and now Gwyn are all brother and sisters.**

Review please! ;)


	6. Chapter 6

**97hollster:**** Thanks for your support, really, seriously, THANK YOU! **

**thePatient07: ****thanks for your helpful tips and insight! ;)**

**gabbi3: ****I love your reviews, they're always fun to read! and answer to your question, Arwin had 5 kids. Vyncent, Adriena, Kimya, Gwyn and Lydia, in that order. **

**Well, I really wanted this chapter to be the end of all the action and stuff, to get onto Arwin explaining, but it would've been like 8-10,000 words if I kept it. So its gonna be split. _Soon_ though my darlings, _soon_. *strokes fluffy white cat, plotting***

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

Lydia pulled away from her father and scrambled toward her fallen sister, Arwin trailing on her heels. Adriena's body was slumped awkwardly on her back, her legs twisted to the side. Her head was tilted and one arm rested over her belly as the other was out from her.

Lydia dropped to her side and pushed away some hair that had fallen in her sister's face. "Addry?" she whispered fearfully. The cotton of Adriena's dress curled in her fingers. "Addry?" she said louder. Lydia shook her shoulder as Arwin came up behind, wrapped thick arm under her arms and hauled her up and away from Adriena's prone form. "_Addry_!" she shrieked.

Luna, who had jumped down from the boulder at seeing her friend on the cold floor, rushed forward and grabbed a struggling Lydia from Arwin's arms. It was not an easy task. Lydia kicked at the air, began sobbing for Adriena, big fat tears rolling down her round cheeks. Fear welled heavy in Lydia's stomach as she saw Adriena laying there. What was wrong? Was she going to be okay?

Luna struggled to keep hold on the child, Lydia was too heavy for her petite frame and the younger girl nearly managed to get away from her. But when she came to a stop a few feet away, touching Lydia's kicking feet to the ground, her struggles ceased, with a feeble effort to start again, before turning her small body and locking her arms around Luna's slim waist in a vice grip. Luna did not protest.

As this happened, Arwin knelt to his eldest daughters side, and patted her cheek firmly. "Adriena! Wake up, girl!" Arwin called out angrily. His anger was brought on by fear and stress. Too much had happened already for Adriena to die, he could not deal with another blow; she would not and could not die, so long as there was breath in his body. His face reddened in anger when she didn't respond. "Adriena!"

As Goliath came rushing forward, one of his stubbly fat legs limping from the wound he'd obtained in the ambush, Adriena's eyes weakly fluttered open. A weak moan emitted from her lips and her eyes squinted in the bright light above her. She was disoriented and obviously in need of rest and a healer, but—thank Natalya—she was alive.

_Well of course she is_, Arwin thought, trying to bush off any sign he'd been so alarmed. He did so out of pride, although with his pleading to Robb only moments before, one could say he had none left to protect.

Goliath reached them then, helping Arwin in propping up the disoriented girl and pressing the water skin he had pulled out against Adriena's slightly parted mouth. As soon as she realized what it was, she began to drink in the cool water urgently, as though it would put out the terrible fire that had been set upon her body.

"The fever...it should have broken by now." Goliath murmured gravely to Arwin. To avoid panicking the fat man he added, "I'll have to check to wound again. Maybe I missed a thorne." Yes, yes that could be it. The poison would still be seeping into her system and would drain her of energy as she tried to fight the fever.

Robb watched the interaction with an unreadable face. What was he supposed to feel about that? He _could not_ _only_ see an outlaw who had attacked his host, he also saw a girl, a girl who was obviously loved. He wished he could only see the first. Perhaps it was her gender that made his anger toward her so soft, or perhaps it was because she looked so vulnerable laying there. Either way, Robb looked away.

The younger girl that Lord Umber held tightly looked past Robb and toward Arwin, his daughter and the ginger haired man he assumed was a healer.

"How many were there?" He asked the girl. Her eyes shifted back to him, only to avert once again. The red blush already in her cheeks from her mad dash, masked the new redness that would have bloomed at being looked at by such a handsome man.

"There were too many too count. We heard them, s-saw a flash of their cloaks and ran." Robb looked at Lord Umber, nodded his head and the Greatjon cautiously let the girl down.

"Um..." Gwyn murmured awkwardly. She flashed her eyes back to the other girls still being held by the other big burly men. "W-we were sewing in the Lyva's hut and we heard them, and then heard screaming." There was unhidden fear in her eyes. One could almost feel the Hoff people's dread and unease in the air.

"_Dragons_," he heard a woman hiss, not in a fearful voice, but a voice that said, _'I told you!'_

"Shut it, woman! You'll panic us all!" a man hissed back. Dragons?

Robb's internal question was cut off when realized that the tense air around him would only grow worse if they continued speaking of this where all ears and eyes were focused on them. To avoid a riot, Robb ordered Umber to escort the girl inside, and silently ordered Arwin to do the same.

Arwin, sparing one last glance at his daughter, stood and fallowed Robb, Lord Umber, Theon Greyjoy and Catelyn back into the tent, Gwyn's arm being gripped by Lord Umber and Grey Wind trailing back inside after them.

Adriena felt better after her long swig of water, and now her head lay somewhat comfortably in Luna's lap. Slowly, she slipped into a deep, well deserved sleep. Lydia sat in front of her, staring at her, making sure she continued to breathe. Vyncent and the other Hoff people stood tense, silently seething that this was a waste of precious time.

"Explain." Robb ordered the girl and Arwin. He wasn't exactly sure where he wanted them to start but he wanted answers. _Now_.

"Please, my King, my village—!" Arwin protested.

"Speak." Robb ordered again, looking toward Gwyn.

Gwyn's pretty pink face looked toward her aged father, silently asking if she should tell their secrets. After a moment, Arwin nodded.

"I-I don't think there were many," she whispered, averting her eyes from Robb. "Lyva said she looked and only saw a few." Correctly assuming 'Lyva' was some other girl she'd run with, Robb nodded. His blue eyes fell to the floor several feet away, thinking. Lannister's had fallowed them...the meagre army he'd surrounded himself with made his gut well with embarrassment and irritation, feeling as though he'd been caught off guard...and he had...twice. Robb's jaw clenched.

"Where is your village, man?" Robb asked Arwin, his voice brooding and threatening.

Arwin hesitated. _Hesitated!_ "Those men are Lannister men and the Lannister men, they can be cruel; they won't think to count the number of women and children when they burn your village to the ground, taking all your food as well as a few women to keep their beds warm at night." Robb's brief summary on Lannister attacks frightened Arwin more than he cared to admit. Robb could see it in the older man's green eyes, the lines in his forehead deepening as it creased.

"Over an hour's west of here." Arwin finally realised. "Past a grove of blue flower trees and over a deep river."

"Show us." Robb ordered with a voice as hard as steel, leaving no room for negotiation.

Arwin looked stricken and looked down with a worried face, but did not protest. Robb was left with many more questions about these people, but he would ask them after they dealt with the Lannister's. He could only home their regime was small.

"Robb," his mother sounded as Arwin was lead from the tent with his newest daughter. "It may not be wise to fallow these people, blindly, into their dwelling. It may be a trap."

"The terror on that man's face could not be acted." Robb dismissed.

"Robb, you did not listen to me once, when you came into this horrid forest. I beg you, listen to me now." she pleaded. He stopped what he was doing, (taking up his sword which had been set on the table during his long negotiations with Arwin) and looked to his mother. Her deep dark red hair spotted a random grey strand here and there, and she looked older. Tired.

His heart tugged at seeing her like this, but truly, deep down, he knew Arwin could not be lying.

"And if they aren't, the Lannister would send them into ruin, however many people still reside there would be killed if not taken as slaves. What's more the Lannister's would have an advantage." If there were Lannister's in that village, they would track him and his host, while destroy the Hoff village. Robb could not allow either one to happen.

Sparing one last look at his mother, Robb left the tent.

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><p>They started up the hill of the gully; the rocks that time had made smooth were their steps. Robb was directly behind Arwin of Hoff, Theon Greyjoy at his left, while Grey Wind trotted not too far ahead. Lord Umber and Robb's lady mother remained back at camp, Arwin's children, half his village and the injured remaining behind as well. The only Hoff person that accompanied them was Arwin.<p>

Robb had left half of his small host behind, praying to the gods that nothing attacked them whilst he was away. With him into the forest, he brought three-hundred soldiers, hoping that in any given situation that they would be enough. Once again a surge of mixed emotions bubbled to the surface from his chest; feelings of remorse and stupidity, fear and uncertainty, anger and pride. Yet Robb kept his face blank, allowing his actions and the general air of authority he emitted to lead his men.

The forest was too dense and, the hill they climbed, too steep to allow horses to travel along with them.

As Theon nearly stumbled over a rock half buried under the earth and hidden by small shrubs, he muttered angrily, "How stupid can ya be to live in a forest like an animal?" He had said it quietly that Robb did not think that Arwin would have heard them, much less answer such a question.

"It was smart. It was safe. It _kept_ us safe for generations." Arwin said with a hint of defensiveness. Robb listened closely.

"_Safe?"_ Theon scoffed incredulously.

Arwin paused a moment. It seemed as though every bit of information he provided them was carefully thought over, so he did not reveal too much. "The dragons...It protected us from their fire and wrath." Arwin said, glancing at Theon from the corner of his eye.

Theon scoffed a laugh, full of condescending disbelief. "The dragon's are all dead. Have been for a while." Arwin was silent. Robb silently wished Theon had kept his mouth shut, so he could learn more about these strange forest dwellers. He would ask them more of who they were and how they came to be after the Lannister's were dealt with.

Defeat was not a thought that Robb could afford to think, not when so much was riding on him. Of course it was always a present possibility in his mind, whispering its potentials. But he never allowed it to take him away from the present, even though when he saw the bloodied faces of his men afterwards, he always felt a type of sting that was like defeat.

After a hundred or so more steps, they finally reached a landing, and from the top of the hill, it didn't look so far down. From there, they traveled along flat land, with only tall grass growing, dancing in the slight, icy breeze. There were no trees or bushes for about twenty yards.

When the trees did start up again, it was even thicker than when they traveled up the hill. The trunks of the trees were only spaced a few feet apart, and it was here that Robb finally noticed how silent it was.

Back down in the gully, they had been constantly bombarded with strange noises—growls, yelps, clicks. During the last couple of days (gods, had it only been _two days?),_ he hadn't noticed with all the action. But now he did, and it made him uneasy. If Arwin's village was being attacked by Lannister's, why was it so silent?

The blue flower trees almost went by unnoticed with the dense thickness of the foliage. It was the call of a random soldier that alerted them. They were like nothing Robb had ever seen. Blue flowers grew in clusters on the tree, nearly a dozen blue/purple petals surrounding a small yellow center.

The grove past quickly and soon they were traveling through the same familiar scene of too dense foliage.

With each passing step, Arwin's old heart beat a little faster. Would his family and village be consumed in this war that they cared not for? Was his last child who still remained in the village alright?

Kimya was his third child, his second daughter, and last child from his Ismae. The thought of Ismae made an old thrum of pain pulse through his heart, but he could not stop the memories that followed.

Ismae had been beautiful, dark earthy hair, eyes the colour of the blue flower trees, skin was soft and pale as the moon light. He loved her since they were children, and married her before anyone else could. They had been sixteen when they married and Arwin had never known such happiness. She gave him two, strong and healthy children, Vyncent would be the future Lord-Chief of Hoff and Adriena would be the lead Councilwoman after her mother. They were happy and, in the few years that fallowed Ismae's death, Arwin would find himself thinking '_there was no need of Kimya'_, in his grief induced stupor.

Kimya was born a month too early, and gods, Ismae _wouldn't stop bleeding!_ She lived long enough to christen her new born daughter and died shortly after, little Kimya in the crook of her arm, Arwin holding her hand.

A horrible ball of pain had built in his chest, making his hands shake, and he barely noticed when the sound of rushing water met his ears.

Kimya looked like him, pale blonde hair, straight as a stick, thin as one too, green eyes and the full lips of her mother. Nature refused to allow Arwin to hate his daughter through and through for 'causing' her mother's death, and so, he loved her. But still, there was always the heartbreaking reminder of what her birth wrought when her name day came about, when Arwin shut himself in his chamber, alone until the days past.

The rushing river was fast and loud beneath the bridge, but thankfully, the planks of wood that were tied together looked strong enough. The bridge was about six feet wide and slowly, groups of about six at a time, they made it across.

Robb suddenly stopped. The men around him stopped as well, looking to their king to know what he knew.

Then they heard it too.

Voices, not too far off.

Shouts, yelps of pain then a shrill scream and everyone knew what Robb knew then.

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><p>Hey! So, ya review or-or... um...REVIEW!<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you to thePatient07! ;)

Thank you reviwers! :D

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Their feet fallowed the voices, the cries of fear and pain, hearing them grow louder and louder until the source of all the noise was just behind a thick cluster of evergreen trees.

Robb's hands separated the lush branches ever so gently and peered out into the strange and mysterious village of Hoff.

The entire village was encased in a slightly dipped clearing, as if their little stables and huts were olives in some type of shallow bowl. The largest structure was built in the center of the village, the other shops and huts set around it in a crescent shape, facing them. It looked to be a Hall or some sort, the roof thatched and pointed up toward the sky, the edges of it going far down until the roof met the earth. A large pair of double doors was the entrance but he was too far off to tell what was carved in them.

In the center of this crescent shaped village, was a courtyard and in the courtyard were a crowd of about fifteen women, a dozen children and a handful of elderly men and women. The Lannister's soldiers were intimidating with their heavy looking swords.

A sense of dread welled up in Robb then as he finished counting the fifteen men situated around their vulnerable captives. How could they save them and their village without the Lannister's fighting back and subsequently killing the innocent villagers? The Lannister men were too close to the civilians, he had to lead them away.

Turning to Theon, Robb whispered in his lowest voice, "Lead the men towards the south and draw the Lannister's out, away from the village." Theon nodded in understanding, and smirked as he turned away. About thirty of Robb's men fallowed, and then another ten for good measure.

Robb returned back to his watching, vigilant for any signs that the Lannister's knew they were there.

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><p>Kimya yelped as the hand of the man in armour came down on the left side of her face in a heavy blow that knocked her to the ground. The back of his hand had somehow split her cheek open, and as well as a reddening hand mark that would soon develop into an ugly bruise, she had a small gash that trickled blood. Her cheek was burning and almost numb with pain.<p>

She landed on her hands and knees, facing away from the man. Her jaw felt as if it were lose, and her head ached so terribly that she saw stars from behind her clenched lids.

"Stop it! Please! _Stop!_" she heard the shrill voice of a woman scream. Her stomach began to churn when she heard the sound of tearing fabric and her pleas turn into hysterical sobs. Tears of rage and pain leaked from her eyes and when she opened them a second later, she was blinded momentarily.

The red armoured men had come from nowhere, bursting from the trees. The armour's noisy clamour should have made her realise that something was amiss before they invaded, but it hadn't.

Kimya had been in the Hall, the place where Hoff's council met and where dances and social gatherings, like weddings, were held. It was the largest structure in Hoff and where she and her family lived. She looked forward, toward the double doors of the Hall, the shadow cats carved into the dark wood big and fierce.

She began to crawl quickly toward them without realizing, driven by some deep urge, inherited by generations. Shadow cats had always been an omen of safety and protection and mercy for the Hoff people. If she could only get to those doors...

A hand, hard and angry encircled her ankle, and roughly pulled her back. Mocking laughter met her ears, when suddenly a hand was in her hair and pulling her up. She cried out loudly.

"Answer me you little bitch! Where is the rest of your livestock!" he shouted at her face.

He was a tall man, broad and strong, a deep scar along his cheek and a face that was red with rage at the young girl he had hit. His name was Ser Wilhelm Banefort, a sworn knight to Casterly Rock. His men hadn't eaten in days, and though Lord Tywin had ordered them to spy on Robb Stark, keeping his men alive was more important to him than the old bastard's orders.

"Ah!" Kimya cried in pain. "T-that's all we have! The c-cold..._it killed them off_!" she squealed as he jerked his hand.

"Lies! I _know_ you have more here!" All together, there were only two hogs, a hen, and a stable full of horses. The forty men Tywin Lannister had charged him with had been cut by half. Most had died from the cold or in combat and the food they found here would barely fill their bellies. They could eat the horses but they were so much more useful to him if they lived. Their horses had long since been fried in a skillet.

Lord Tywin would have his head on a skewer if he didn't report what he'd seen soon, where Stark planned to march and how great his numbers were. He had seen the pathetic little band Stark had brought into this icy shit hole of a forest, and had traveled uphill to send out his raven, in the hopes it would reach Lord Tywin before Stark's army swarmed Pinkmaiden, the newly Lannister sworn outpost they occupied.

It was then, that they discovered this little village, scarcely occupied by able-bodied men. It was like a gift from the gods and they were content to utilize every asset this little haven had.

"No! No, there aren't!" Kimya sobbed, her eyes widening as Ser Banefort reached to his waist and took out his dirk. He held it to her face, pressing the terribly sharp tip against her red, throbbing cheek.

"You shouldn't lie to a man with a knife." he threatened dangerously, his guttural voice sending more fear into her heart than any blow could.

Kimya was too terrified to have noticed any sudden sound, but Banefort was in not such a state.

"The hell is that?" he grunted. Was that...a man? From not too far away, it sounded like a man yelping joyously.

_What the hell?_

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><p><em>What the hell<em>, Robb thought. His nose wrinkled in annoyed amusement and he rested his forehead on his knuckles as he heard Theon shout unintelligible things in a joyous voice. Fool, he thought. But still, it prompted five of the Lannister troops to go off into the thicket to investigate.

"Go," Robb hissed to the others, but before they could take that first step, the sound of an arrow whizzing through the air and meeting its target stopped them.

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><p>The whistling thrum came from the left of Banefort, before the long pointed shaft of an arrow came through his throat, warm blood splattering across Kimya's face and neck. The steely grip on her hair loosened and her unsuspecting legs fell to the cold hard ground. He had pulled away his dirk when that strange gleeful whooping sound broke through the air, and so she was not sliced when she fell.<p>

She watched in total disbelief as the man fell to his knees, his eyes wide with surprise, the gurgling sound of his blood filling his windpipe and mouth stopping when he fell forward, his dead body pinning her legs to the ground.

"_Ah_! Get him off! Get him off!" she squealed, trying in vain to push the body off of her legs.

Robb Stark stared in absolute shock as the Lannister knight slumped forward. His blue eyes darted to the men stationed on either side of him and by their nervous looks and shifting feet he knew the arrow had not come from any of them.

Could one of Theon's charges have been the cause? His speedy ponderings were cut short when shrill war cries broke through the air like a whip.

They moved fast, their long dresses making their figures all the more undistinguishable and blurry. They were _women_, he realized as he saw one of them stop to swing a heavy looking club against the breastplate of one of the Lannister men.

Caught off guard, the handful of armoured men in the center of the village could not defend themselves against the savage women's sudden attack. They were not the defenceless, petite creatures they had believed; they held weapons without a tremor in their small hands, proving years of practice. The elderly and the children quickly crept away to the sides of the buildings. The red men didn't notice their captives shift away

Kimya still struggled to get the dead man off of her legs, tears of fear and disgust streaming down her narrow face.

Without waiting a second longer, Robb lead his men running into the village.

The women attacked in groups. The man was not wearing armour, only leather trousers and cotton tunics, more practical garb for travel. A blonde haired woman ran behind the large man who was about to raise a hammer, but she struck an exposed portion of his leg quickly with her hatchet, without stopping her run. She disappeared into the chaos. The hammer-man's body bucked forward in pain.

A second woman ran behind the hammer-man as he whirled around to see who had wounded him. This woman, a red head, slammed her husband's fishing club against his back. Like the blonde haired woman, she ran off, as if she was never there.

Finally, a third woman, this one black haired, ran behind him and stabbed her knife into his back. The large knight stumbled forward, weakly trying to fight off his attackers and the other two women swarmed him, the blonde hitting at his chest with her hatchet, and the red haired one beat at him with her club. The black haired wench stabbed at him once more before he fell to the ground, dead.

Grey Wind launched himself at an enemy knight, his sharp teeth digging into his shoulder and neck as his massive body half crushed the Lannister knight.

Arwin ran toward his daughter, still pinned by the dead man, and pushed the corpse away. He pulled Kimya close.

The fighting began to die away as most of the Lannister invaders lay on the ground dead. As the last group of women finished their attack, they suddenly realized they had not won this battle singlehandedly.

Robb wretched his sword out of the Lannister knight's gut, and gazed about the bloody carnage about the small village with an unpleasant, heavy feeling in his gut.

Lannister men lay dead on the ground, their faces red with their blood. The women stood somewhat awkwardly amongst their kills, their dresses, hands and faces bloody. Fear began to rise up again as they watched these new comers. These new men had helped them destroy their enemy, but was it just so they could have their spoils? They began to shift closer, feeling that the best chance for survival was to stay together.

Robb stared in shock at the women. They had fought and had killed many. They hadn't hesitated, they hadn't feared...amazing.

The children who hid behind the buildings, about a fourteen boys and girls, ranging from five months old to thirteen, looked out at the destruction and at seeing their mothers, sisters and aunts outnumbered, began to whimper and cry, fearing that their attack had only drained them of energy for the next wave of bandits.

The elderly, who hid with them, began to tremble with anger, tears brimming in their eyes at the feeling of helplessness, of uselessness.

One woman who had lost her knife in battle, flashed her hand down lightning quick and picked up a rock to defend herself with.

Grey Wind growled at the sudden movement, stepping out from behind his master's legs. The women stumbled back, looking more terrified than they were before.

"Arwin!" a dark haired woman screeched, her eyes darting to where Arwin stood with his daughter. Kimya was sobbing and clinging to him with all the might she had in her thin body. As if Arwin had the power to save them from the mongrel beast.

"It's alright. He's a Stark King. A winter King." Arwin said. The women blinked. "He just saved us." he said looking at Robb with silent respect, and gratefulness.

Samyella, the woman who called out to Arwin, looked back to the boy with the dire wolf. Oh he was _young_, and, if her memory served her right, looked more southern born than a northern son. But, he had a dire wolf, and Starks had always had dire wolves in the past. Could it be? Could the Starks have regained their independence and crown? Were the dragons gone?

If so, were they to trust him, the descendent of the man who betrayed them, who had abandoned them?

He had saved their village though, she thought looking around. The fifteen red men had started to fight back as soon as they realized what was happening, and if they hadn't stepped in...Samyella cringed at the thought.

She and her daughters had been hiding in the cellar when they came. After a while, she heard the muffled scream of a girl as she was dragged into the house, the mocking laugh of a man and the tearing of fabric. Blind rage gripped her and before she could stop herself, she flung the cellar door open and pulled herself up to the floor. He was atop her grunting and panting as the girl beneath him sobbed and struggled, begging, _'stop'_. She rushed forward and slit his throat with the fish knife she'd taken to protect her and her family with.

He was the only one in the house, thanks gods, and so they had the element of surprise.

Samyella pushed her daughters back into the cellar, stole the dead man's bow and went upstairs to the loft. She shot the arrow into the Ser Banefort's neck, signalling the other women downstairs to attack.

But a group of women with meagre weapons was not enough to win, not alone anyway.

With a bit of trepidation, Samyella uttered a quiet "Thank you," still terrified of the wolf at Robb's side.

Oh, Arwin has _a lot_ of explaining to do, she seethed.

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><p>Adriena moaned slightly as Goliath began to poke and prod her wound. Her dark hair still stuck to her forehead, and her skin gave off unnatural heat, but she did not stir as Goliath began the slow and painful task of removing poison thorns that were left alone too long.<p>

"It's not like you to miss something like this." Luna offered humorously as she held her friend's head in her lap. Lydia had long since gone to sleep behind her sister, her fingers curling into Adriena's damp hair.

"I had angry militia men breathing down my neck and wounded who needed aid and only me to give it. I think that is understandable." Goliath grunted as he began to tug at one of the thorns sticking into Adriena's skin. After some hard pulling, it finally pulled free from her side, Adriena's body jerking unintentionally.

It was silent a moment. "Do you think he'll let us go home?" Luna asked tearfully. The thought of never seeing home again terrified her. Goliath looked up, at loss of what to say.

He did not know what the dire wolf king would do, but he seemed merciful enough. If they were forced to be slaves, he might be a fine lord. He did not want to say this to Luna though; the poor girl was in near tears already.

So he said nothing and continued to pull at the thorns in Adriena's side and wrapped it when he was done.

An hour later, a joyous cry came from further down the line of Hoff people. Excited whispers were exchanged and when they got to Goliath and Luna, they could hardly believe it.

They were going back home.

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><p><strong>Well, if I were a guy, this chapter would've been a kick in the balls :(<strong>

Okay, just so every one knows, I revised a paragraph in Chap 1, pretty much explaining where and why Robb is marching, if you don't wanna go back and reread the entire chapter (it's also okay if you do :]), here is a brief little summary  
><strong>Robb is marching to Pinkmaiden (HA!) to reclaim it as a Northern supporter. The Pipers, Pinkmaiden's noble family, used to be loyal to the Tully's but they went dark side and opted to the incesty Lannister jerk-offs.<strong>

thank you soooo much to all those who have bared with me these chapters :( but I could not skip all this build up without feeling as if I just jumped fifty feet ahead. :(, I swear, attaction (the gateway to romance) is SOON! like next chapter soon.

R&R please!


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Burning, heat, fire. Blood curdling screams came from the burning houses, the roar of the flames was all around as the angry blaze flickered higher and higher to touch the home of the gods with their burning fingers. _

_She was everywhere and nowhere at once. She saw everything in a terrible heap and could feel the tears run down her face, cold in comparison to the unbearable heat around her. A figure came stumbling toward her, the Hall, her home in flames behind him. His skin was burned away, black and charred but splitting open with the red flesh showing. _

_She had brought this upon them..._

_Nothing came from her as he stopped in front of her, despite the horrible lead-like fear and disgust inside her. She could not look away from the tall, burned body standing before her and then she saw his eyes and a scream of anguish finally tore from her throat, loud and mournful. _

_Evergreen coloured eyes...like hers, like her brother's..._

A strangled gasp emitted from Adriena, jerking to a sitting position from her soft bed. The warm fur blanket had long been kicked off and she only had a simple bed sheet tangled about her legs now.

Her breasts heaved for air a moment, her eyes darted around for the raging inferno she'd seen in her dream, only to see a comfortable room around her, a small fire burning warmly beside her bed. A beautiful embroidered tapestry of summer flowers and the sun hung on the wall, and a chest with perfumes, a basin, a comb and a box full of other valuables sat on the other side of her bed.

It took Adriena a long moment to realize this was _her_ room.

Fear still made her heart race a little faster in excitement. _Forget, forget_, she told herself. _Forget! _She never wanted to remember that dream and its horrors.

She reached up to brush her hair back when she froze.

Her chambers were warm and familiar but the last time she'd closed her eyes she'd been in a cold trench surrounded by strange enemies.

What...? Confusion swaddled her, as she looked down, not finding the thick dark green dress and doe skin underclothes she'd worn in the gully, but her night dress, the straps falling about her shoulders, the laces tied neatly over her chest.

She pushed the sheet off her, twisting to get out of bed, and winced, gasping at the sharp sting in her side. Touching the tender skin through the cotton, she felt somehow relieved at feeling a bandage underneath, but her panic also increased at the dull sting the simple touch presented.

Her family, her village...what became of them? Her heart told her that if she was so well treated in her unconscious state, the others should be alright. But doubt still whispered to her.

She was on her feet in a moment, needing to know what was going on. Her mind was whirling with questions in a blurry haze, confusion the only clear thing coming through. The lax feeling in her legs made her stumble forward, her hands slamming into the mantle of the fireplace in order to stop her fall. Her hands ached from the impact.

She stood there a moment, breathing deeply, the warm air filling her chest. Then she pushed away from the mantle, slowly walking toward the door, keeping her left had securely on the mantle. When her hand encircled the door handle, she paused. What lay beyond that door? Good things or bad? Her family or a dire wolf and a king?

She pulled open the door, the bright light of the candle chandelier hanging over the hall blinded her a moment with its brightness. The smell of roasting meat fluttered over her nose, its sweet and rich smell making her mouth water in hunger. The sound of feet rushing over the wooden floor and plate and other things being moved, filled the hall. She heard the distant crackle of a large fire pit, and the sizzle of cooking meat.

Then, after blinking a few times, her sight came back to her.

In the Hall, down below the platform she stood on, people bustled about, setting out plates, goblets and candles, shifting the benches around to make more rooms about the long columns of tables, and a few men she knew were tuning their mandolins and lutes by the corner. A familiar high pitched giggle drew her eyes to Luna's running form. The blonde girl bounced over to the other two musicians, holding her harp.

_What?_ There were too many endings to that word: what had happened? What were they doing?

That wonderment turned to shell-shocked amazement when her eyes drifted over the familiar, bulky form of her father and the unfamiliar form of the wolf King. Amazement clouded rational thought, and she could not hear herself yell out to her father or feel her feet carry her down the stairs.

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><p>The cold bit at Arwin's face as he moved toward the trees. He never felt more nervous, not even when he waited for Ismae in the Hall, the day of their wedding. He knew she'd say yes that day, he knew it would all be alright. Facing Robb Stark and telling him all their secrets had so many possibilities, some good, many bad.<p>

The Stark army had set up camp just outside the village, so the evergreen wall separated Robb's encampment from Hoff. With trepidation, he pushed the dull needles away and squeezed himself through the small gap, stepping out into Robb's camp.

Northern men were seated all around, some just plunked on the ground, and others sitting atop rocks or the gnarled tree roots. At Arwin's insistence, Robb had agreed to make camp near Hoff and as an added courtesy Arwin's people provided them with food and drink, but they had not much else to offer. They were accustomed to summer, warmth and the sun, food always in abundance. The steadfast chill had descended upon their homes in a flash it seemed and the snows had been unexpected and sudden and left them unprepared for winter. What warm furs and supplies they had were saved and cherished because most felt it was getting too cold to go out to hunt anymore. The animals were rarely coming out of their dens anymore.

If Arwin was nervous, no one could say. Whatever he felt was hidden behind a mask as he walked past the northern men and toward the tent that Robb Stark had erected. Outside the dark blue coloured structure, sat two guards, on lazy watch. Although Arwin couldn't blame the two lads (it was another bitterly cold day and there wasn't much happening on this side of the evergreen wall), he still flashed them a look that made his people stand straighter and work faster. But the two men just looked up at Arwin as he approached.

Recognizing him, they sighed and slowly got to their feet, and pulled their shoulders back. One cleared his throat. "Your grace," he called into the tent. "Their chief is here." Arwin thought he heard a slight sneer in his voice.

Robb looked back to his mother and Lord Umber, nodding before he turned on his feet and left the tent. Catelyn stared at her son's back, even after he disappeared behind the thick tent flap. She did not know what to make of his decisions lately. Robb was a good man, and a just lord, but he _needed_ to be a stricter king. Treating these people, these bandits who'd attacked them, as if they were a friendly folk was a mistake. Gods have mercy if this wrapped a tentacle of doubt around the men's hearts.

A puff of cold air beat against Robb's face as he stepped out of the tent. He could hear the crunch and snap of bones as Grey Wind gnawed on his hare carcass near the tent. Although Robb could plainly see the scared looks on the forest dwellers' faces, he allowed Grey Wind to prowl as he did.

The thinner foliage around them meant that the snow had nowhere to go but the ground, and so, with each step, the cold white fluff crunched beneath his boots. The bright white sky stirred once more, the cloud swirling with the promise of snow, either this night or the next.

Arwin awaited Robb outside the tent, the redness of his face obscured by the pale whiskers of his face. The older man was dressed in a green cotton tunic, rough spun wool breeches, a pointed cap, a thick leather belt that bulged over his protruding stomach, and a cloak, the clasp looking to be a silver leaf.

Robb nodded to the man after the latter bowed respectfully.

"Your grace, I will tell you all you wish to know." Robb nodded absently, his gaze shifting and looking ahead. Arwin turned his body, silently directing Robb toward the village, a place where they could talk without the prying ears of over eleven hundred other strangers listening in.

When they stepped beyond the evergreen wall, Arwin started.

"We weren't always here," he said. "Coming into this forest was our last resort." They began to slowly walk toward the Hall, very few Hoff villagers crossing their path. "When Aegon and his sisters stormed the land, burning the ones who refused them as rulers, our first home was consumed in their path." Robb could note a tone of sadness and anger in his voice, peculiar, since—if he remembered his lessons correctly—this happened some three hundred years before their time.

After a second, Arwin continued. "We-we were loyal to your family," Robb's eyebrows knitted at the confession. The hall was not so far off now, only about twenty more paces. "A good king Torrhen Stark was; resisted those fiery demons and their legion for a good long while." Again, he said this with such conviction that Robb was nearly compelled to remind him that he could not possibly have been there. Yet he said nothing, and allowed Arwin to continue.

"Then they came north. They burned and killed all that our ancestors had, they destroyed all we held dear and moved on." He paused a moment as they finally made it to the double shadow cat doors. They were beautifully crafted, and in their jaws were strange looking creatures, monsters as if from a fairy tale. Arwin gripped the worn handle and pulled, the warm air of the Hall beating against their faces as well at the loud clamour inside attacking their ears.

Hoff's Great Hall was large. When one first walked in, they were greeted with five long columns of tables, pointing toward a dais at the head of the Hall. A long grand table sat there, with ten chairs of oak wood behind it. Over the head table, was a platform with doors leading to rooms, and on either side was a staircase descending down into the hall. Above, on the ceiling, was a round candle chandelier, with three tiers of brightly flickering candles**. **

Women and men alike bustled about the large Hall, holding bowls, plates, candle holders, and whatever else they thought was needed for the banquet tonight.

Although none of these timid people had said it aloud, Robb and his men knew they were in for a feast that night, out of simple gratitude. It was strange to him and irked him a little that these people so abruptly changed their opinion on him and his men. Could destroying the Lannister threat have really meant that much to them? Was secrecy prized above all pride, all prices to them?

The doors creaked shut behind them, and Robb felt a prickle of unease. Arwin did not notice, as Robb was stony faced all through their short walk.

"What was left of us," he continued, walking toward one of the long columns of tables. "Traveled further north, hoping for justice." Arwin's voice grew a little awkward, stepping over all that he wanted to say and was influenced to believe from his elders and saying what was true in the most respectable way. Both men sat down at one of the tables, one on either side. "We didn't get none. After a lot of raging, Zeke, my father's great-great-grandfather, made the choice to..._retreat_."

Neither man spoke for a long moment. Robb mulled over the simple story Arwin had told him. The Targaryen's stormed their village, they retreated north for justice and then hid away far south when they found none. It was so... measly and simple. Robb began to wonder why Arwin was so keen on keeping that secret. It wasn't as if it held some great and terrible horror, but instinct told Robb that there were things that Arwin left unsaid, some history that he'd rather not say.

Arwin silently prayed to Natalya to have mercy. _Please_, he thought, _don't let him ask why._

The crime the long dead villagers of Hoff had done was as long gone as them. But if this new, young Stark King, a young wolf, learned of the crime so long ago committed, who knew what he'd do.

Arwin was one of two who knew the truth. Only Ismae and her sister, Samyella knew besides himself. Ismae had taken it to the grave with her, and Samyella kept it way in the back of her mind. The first generation of children born after they first settled in this forest, knew nothing of the crime their parents committed, but the first Lord-Chief of Hoff, told his son and he told his son, and so it went on until Arwin came to know and told Ismae.

The folly that they never spoke of was of killing Torrhen Stark's first son. The details of what had happened had been lost in time, but the outcome remained the same. None remembered who had done the deed, but they knew it was one of Hoff, one who had been trusted by the young Stark heir and killed by slipping a vile of poison into the man's goblet.

One of Arwin's ancestors had killed Torrhen Stark, Robb Stark's ancestor and here they were, a Hoff chief talking with a Stark King for the first time in nearly three hundred years.

Robb was about to say something, but a cry cut him off.

"Father!" Adriena's familiar voice called out, echoing slightly in the halls. Both men glanced back toward the left staircase, where the young woman sped down, her white night dress fluttering in the breeze.

Robb's eyes widened slightly in surprise at the sight of her. She was bare foot, her hair dishevelled, and her night dress made his eye brows rise and his eyes unintentionally wander. The collar dipped just where the swell of her breast began and the skirt ended at her shins, an embroidered pattern at the hem. The fabric fit the elegant curve of her wide hips and ample breasts, and one of the thick straps of the gown had fallen down a smooth, pale shoulder. She was very beautiful...

Robb's eyes traveled back up to her face, and found her hard green eyes set on him. Robb's ears began to burn slightly but he did not look away, both out of pride and so she couldn't think him a cad. Robb noticed she had quite a lovely face as well. Full lips, elegant cheek bones, green eyes that reminded him of the summer leaves. Robb felt wrong for noticing and admiring these traits because she was Arwin's daughter, and in her night wear and only the day before she had been the enemy.

The woman—_Adriena_, he reminded himself—did not seem to care she was in a state of undress and continued toward them, a look of suspicion written across her pretty face.

"Father, what's going on?" she asked as she finally reached them, stepping close to her father's side, still eyeing Robb warily.

"I'm just telling His Grace, our histories." Arwin murmured back to his daughter, turning slightly away from Robb—a half-hearted attempt at making his conversation private. Adriena's face went slack and her eyes shifted from Robb to her father.

"But I..._father_..." she said it in a way that conveyed so much more disbelief and disapproval than her words ever could.

"Hush," Arwin hissed gently. "Go to your chambers now, have Luna tend your hurts and get ready for the banquet. We will talk soon." Adriena's eyes once again found Robb's watching him with more annoyance than suspicion. Robb stared back, his face unreadable to her.

Sizing him up once more, she turned and left, her feet shuffling over the bare planks of wood, up the stairs and to her room, before closing the door behind her with a satisfying bang.

Robb and Arwin watched her go and listened to the bang of the door as she slammed it. Arwin chuckled. "My eldest daughter," he looked to Robb. "She's-she's a spitfire, but she has a good heart." Robb nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

Arwin had seen the look on Robb's face when he saw Adriena in her night dress, and slowly, as the night wore on, he began to develop a type of plan.

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><p>So, same deal: what do ya think?<p> 


	9. Chapter 9

**I know its been forever since I last posted, but a lot of crap has gone down on this end. Well not a lot, but just enough to keep me from writing. Mainly writers block, school work and my dear beta leaving fanfiction :(**

_PrincessOfSilence:::put away that time machine cuz the next chapter is here!_

_97hollster:::thank you for never failing to review and hope u enjoy this chapter :)_

_PaddySnuffles::: I had to look up what twitterpadded meant! hope u enjoy this chapter :D_

_Anyone else who read, thax for taking the time! ;)_

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

"So ya see, from what Brynn has told me, the northerners _saved_ us from these red caped men." Luna gushed as she twirled Adriena's long hair around. Luna was currently pulling and twisting Adriena's hair into some sort of elegant arrangement for the feast her father was hosting that night. They were in Adriena's room, Adriena sitting by her vanity chest as Luna fixed her hair behind her.

Adriena's night dress had long been exchanged for an elegant gown of white with an embroidered green pattern along the modest collar. The sleeves fanned out at her elbows, so when she lifted up her arm, her forearm was bare and the soft fabric hung down. The dress hugged the curves of her hips and breasts and belly, making her uncomfortable and the still tender wound on her side was starting to throb at being pressed against by the soft fabric of the dress.

"Ah!" Adriena grunted as Luna pulled a tangle. "That still does not give them the right to stay here." she argued stubbornly.

"Yes, well, I think we owe them some gratitude." Luna replied simply as she began to braid Adriena's dark tresses.

"Luna, they know about us—" Adriena muttered out, her annoyance beginning to rise.

"I know," Luna said impatiently. "They know that we are here, but, maybe, it won't be so horrible. No one's mentioned becoming slaves to this young King, and maybe after this thank-you feast he'll start to like us a bit better." Adriena refrained from rolling her eyes at her dearest friends thought.

"Luna, we don't know them; they don't know us. My father hasn't even told me what this _Robb Stark _wants yet." Arwin had not told her of Robb's condition of having her and Vyncent come along with them to the south.

He had told Vyncent when the other half of the village came back from the gully and, to put it plainly, Vyncent had not taken this news well. Robb Stark had shamed him as well as half crippled him, and to be traveling with the source of his shame was not something that appealed to him in the slightest. Also, leaving Hoff meant leaving Nara, Vyncent's wife-to-be.

"It can't be so bad, could it? He spared us when he could've slaughtered us, he didn't lay a hand on Lydia when she was with him and he protected our home from those red caped men. He sounds _good_." Luna bickered back.

"Even if he is good, doesn't mean his _men_ are." Adriena replied almost snappishly. She picked up the copper comb that Luna would put in her own hair once she was done with Adriena's and twirled it in her hands.

"No but they follow him don't they? It means they must do whatever _he_ says and right now, he's ordering them to behave." Luna smirked smugly. Adriena could say nothing to Luna's logic. "And besides," Luna grinned leaning her head down so her chin rested on Adriena's shoulder. "He's is _quite_ nice to look at." Adriena looked back to her friend, a smile tugging at her lips.

Adriena let out a giggle as she stood. "Sit." she ordered, still grinning. Luna on the bench Adriena once sat on. "Don't expect your hair to be as pretty as mine" Adriena said teasingly as she picked up the brush on the chest.

She then proceeded to comb out the other girl's flowing golden hair, all the while, he worries slowly nipping at her and breaking down the cheery little end of their conversation.

* * *

><p>In another chamber, just to the left of Adriena's room, Gwyn sat on her bed, weighing the options of which dress she would wear to the feast.<p>

"I don't want to go." a whining voice came from the chair by the fire. Gwyn looked over to her only _real_ sister and rolled her eyes.

It was difficult to believe at times that she and Lydia shared the same mother and same father. While she loved pretty things and dresses and socializing with the other girls, Lydia preferred to be outside, bringing back animals that were wounded, abandoned or the ones she caught. Gwyn loved to have her hair fixed and brushed, Lydia preferred to tend to the scraps and cuts and bruises given to her by the animals she took home.

But there was no doubt that Lydia was her sister. Of what Gwyn remembered of her mother's face, she remembered slim features, pronounced cheek bones and blonde hair, all of which both Lydia and Gwyn shared.

Gwyn and Lydia's mother was Mira, a blacksmiths daughter and Arwin's second wife. In Hoff, family size and children count was of high regard, and after two years of only having three children, Arwin finally gave into his council's advice and married a woman he knew had loved him since they were children.

Mira birthed him two more daughters before she died of the chill, but some of her attitude reflected in Gwyn. In their marriage, Mira discovered her husband's cold disposition toward her. It seemed all his love and warmth had died with Ismae and all he had left was for his children and not her, his wife. She grew to hate Ismae even more for taking all Arwin's love with her to the grave, and so Ismae's children were caught in the path. Mira never voiced or acted on her loathing for Vyncent, Adriena or young Kimya, but always, there was a feeling of abhorrence underneath her calm exterior.

Gwyn was five when her mother died, and as she grew, she began to see her elder siblings as distant relatives rather than her brother and sisters. She thought of them as not her real family, and that Lydia was her only real sister. Lydia, ever opposite to Gwyn, saw the elder three as her full siblings.

"I don't want to see him and his beast again." Lydia pouted, still slumped in the chair. She glared into the fire.

"Don't be a baby." Gwyn admonished carelessly.

"I am not a baby!" Lydia grumbled, shooting up from her chair.

"Yes you are!" Gwyn taunted as she began to put her dresses back into the chest at the foot of her bed. "The baby is afraid of a wolf!"

"It's not just a wolf! It big! _It's scary_!" Lydia screeched back, stamping her small foot.

"_Baby!"_

"Shut up!" Lydia cried as she ran at the bed and launched herself at Gwyn. Gwyn cried out as Lydia knocked her to the ground and began to pull at her hair. The bruises from the soldier in the gully the day before began to pulse in pain.

"Get off!" their little scuffle continued on a few moments, until Samyella opened the door and separated them.

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><p>Old Ryley of the Cat's Eye Springs strummed on his mandolin, the smooth and beautiful notes twirling through the air, but no one danced. The air was warm; the faint smell of roasted meat was still rich and the cloying smell of sweet leaves was becoming more and more noticeable with each puff of the men's pipes.<p>

Adriena's nose began to burn. She had grown with that smell, yet it still burned her nose as if she breathed it in for the first time.

Once again, as it had been in the gully, Hoff and the Northern army were divided: Hoff people on the right side, the army on the left.

Some men, not put off by the subtle air of hostility, drank and laughed and played knife and dice games merrily among their own people. Those, still awkward with the presence of strangers, sat and talked quietly with others next to them, drinking and just sitting quietly. The women, the younger ones who were more interested in a handsome face and a new story, looked to the strangers with flirtatious intentions, but the older women's sharp looks turned them back to the familiar Hoff men. But, there was the odd woman who was not put off by the taboo, and subtly slunk off somewhere for privacy, a northern soldier not far behind.

Despite this, the Hall was silent, solemn, and joyless.

It was the most pitiful excuse for a feast Adriena had ever witnessed and she thanked the gods for it. The near silence and the feeling of antagonism meant that these strangers wouldn't stay for much longer, and leave. They could continue on in life when they left, as if they never were. And good riddance; these men ate a lot and they were strangers and one never knew what strangers could do.

Samyella, Adriena's aunt, sat next to her daughters, tense and angry looking as she sipped her wine. Luna smiled with the tall boy who fancied her and Nara, Adriena's future sister-in-law, sat with her mother and father and younger siblings at the far right.

For the first time in her life, Adriena doubted her father. Had he gone mad for letting these men stay here and offering up their already dwindling supplies? The winter had come and there was no preparing them. When the white fluff first began to fall from the sky, it was the first time Adriena—or anyone she knew—had seen snow. It was a marvel at first, but with the cold, the loss of animals, the frozen pond of fresh water and, of course, the blocked out sky, it was more a bad omen.

Her father sat at her right side at the head table, her brother at her left. This surprised her, as the custom was that the first born sat on the father's left side. Beside Vyncent, sat their sister Kimya, then Gwyn, and finally, Lydia.

She wished the younger girls weren't here. It didn't seem right to her. The right side of Kimya's face was an angry purple with an ugly yellow forming around the blemish. A while after Luna redressed Adriena's wounds she went to her sister's room and found her weeping on the bed. She hadn't stopped for an hour.

Lydia still eyed the dire wolf behind Robb Stark like it was a hound from the underworld, come to life, and Gwyn kept glancing toward the auburn haired King, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink and a giddy smile gracing her lips before she turned away. The last annoyed Adriena the most. He had invaded them, crippled their brother and still she has the _nerve_ to fancy the-the...bastard!

_Well_, the annoying voice of truth whispered, _you fancied the boy who broke Vyncent's arm in the practice ring all those years ago. _Rolling her eyes at her long dead infatuation, Adriena looked further down the table, at the new faces that sat at their table with the highest honour.

On her father's right side, sat Robb Stark, the dire wolf king.

Luna said he was quite handsome and she was not exaggerating. She'd seen him in the gully, when he was about to murder her brother. What could another day and a calmer setting do for his appearance? Nothing! He'd still be the same as he was then.

And yet...he wasn't. The man who she had seen in the gully was horrid, a monster even. But the man standing there talking with her father in the hall, was handsome. Auburn hair, curled and wind tousled, river blue eyes, tall and broad and strong, with an internal light of goodness and honour that made it hard to remember that he was the same man from the gully.

This confused her. How can someone be so handsome, yet so dangerous to her and her village all at once? How could she think he was gorgeous knowing what he'd done to her brother and her village?

She sat listening silently to her father as spoke with the dire wolf King next to him. Her father's new found fondness of this stranger confounded her even more, especially since _he_ was responsible for wounding his only son. Had he no pride?

A loud _bang_ snapped her from her thoughts, making her jump and the table jerk. The music abruptly came to a stop and everyone's eyes flashed to Vyncent who was calmly whipping away the meat and potatoes that had been crushed under his fist.

He looked up a moment, feeling Nara's eyes on him from across the room. He avoided his betrothed's eyes and got up, storming past his younger sisters and out of the Hall in the direction of the kitchens.

A silence, tenser than the one before, fell upon the room once again like a cold splash of water, and the fragile merriment died.

Robb was not at all surprised at the other man's outburst. It was one of those occurrences you _knew_ was going to happen sometime. Catelyn, however, had an expression on her face that reminded him of the times she looked at Jon, his half-brother. Full of distaste, abhorrence and mistrust.

Once again, a feeling of loss dully beat against him. This feeling was over a year old by now, so it did not hurt as bad. Still though, he silently grieved for those carefree days back at Winterfell, when he was a boy without an entire region depending on him, when his father was alive still and his sisters were safe. But it would do him no good thinking of what had been; he could only focus on what was before him and what he knew he must do.

He saw Adriena snap her head to her father beside her, her long hair whipping gently around over her left shoulder, glaring at Arwin as though he were the cause of Vyncent's uncontrolled eruption. Her narrowed green eyes flashed to Robb's, before standing and following Vyncent out the way he went.

"Adriena—!" Arwin called, but she's already disappeared through the open corridor. Robb looked away, banishing the fleeting thought of how pert and round her bottom was.

* * *

><p>Angrily, Vyncent paced the length of the stables. The horses paid him no mind; their tails whipped back and forth, they nibbled on some feed as if he were not there. The old, one-eyed dog that once belonged to the old stable hand before he died, watched him from under a scruffy fringe of dark brown fur, not moving, only watching.<p>

Anger and hatred burned inside him, forming a tight ball inside his chest. His heart pounded in his ears, and his chest heaved. He was angry about everything. Stark's presence here, his deformed hand...Nara. He hadn't even told her—or anyone—of Robb Stark's plans. When they first made it back to the village, Arwin pulled him aside and told him of Robb Stark's order to take him and Adriena along with them on their march to the south. What would she do when he told her he was going away with the dire wolf stranger?

He wanted to hit the post behind him for thinking about her dark brown eyes. Her eyes were so sad...so full of sympathy. Nara was to be his wife, and he'd loved her for more than a year now. But how can she love him still, with his hand cut down to three fingers, and his pride sliced in half? He had failed to protect his sisters and the others, so how could he protect her as a husband? Surely Nara would find another man now...

He turned around and raised his right fist, the three remaining fingers curled down, and braced himself for the agonizing burst of pain, when a hand stopped him. Quickly, trailing up the long line of her arm, he looked at Adriena, her face hard and impassive, but her dark brows knitted together in annoyance.

"You hit the post, you'll break open stitches." she said matter-of-factly. Vyncent growled and wretched his arm away and he began pacing again, his eyes never leaving his sister's face. The white dress she wore was her finest dress and her hair was long and half back in a tangle of braids. She wore her best dress and made herself pretty for _him_. His anger grew.

"How can he _let_ him and his eat here!" he shouted, motioning with his good hand toward the door that led to the kitchens then the Hall. She didn't answer. "Look what he did to me—what he did to us!" she knew that '_us'_ meant their village. "And you—_you_ put on ya best dress and dance around in front of 'im?" he rumbled dangerously.

"_I've done no such thing_!" she screeched, her stony face flaring to life with disbelief and fury. "How _dare_ _you_, you son of a—"

"Vyncent! Adriena! Enough!" the familiar booming voice shouted sternly from the kitchen's corridor. Vyncent did not look at him, ashamed of his own father and so angry at him for allowing the source of his own shame to remain there with them. Adriena looked, out of simple instinct, but narrowed her eyes.

"Why?" she asked first. "Why did you let him _stay?" _

Arwin walked further into the stables, the one eyed dog watching him intently. "Because," he began slowly. "If we gain his favour, he'll spare our village from this war."

"There is no going _back_ now, father." Adriena protested emphatically. "He knows about us, his men know about us. We are no secret to the world any longer." It was the first time she'd voiced this aloud and it sent a horribly strange feeling over her, a feeling of fear and uncertainty yet also a strange thrill of wonder. The unknown world outside these green walls called to her, begging to be explored. She wanted to go off and see it, and it made her feel guilty. Her family needed her here; her villages' privacy needed to be protected. Only children dream of things they can't have.

Arwin sighed impatiently. "Adriena, go back to the feast. We'll talk later."

Adriena refused. She was tired of being sent away when she wanted answers, of being silenced when she voiced her opinions. "No, we will talk _now_! Our privacy is meaningless now, and there is no need—" a sharp slap cut her off. It was not so hard that it knocked her to the cold, grass-lined floor, but it snapped her head to the side and made a burning-stinging like pain pulse in her cheek.

She looked wide-eyed to her father. He had only struck her a few times before, when she was _very_ small and impudent. Most of the time, he left Old Helsa to the punishments. As Arwin glared at his daughter, a little shocked at his own actions, Vyncent stepped a little closer to his sister, staring at his father with angry shock, ready to defend his sister is need-be. Adriena looked away from her father when she felt tears of hurt begin to well in her eyes.

"Get back inside. _Now_." his voice was low, dangerous. Adriena's glistening eyes flashed up to Arwin again, before quickly looking away as she moved out of the stable, her head held high but her eyes staring downward in a stunned daze. The horses were still chewing on the feed, the one eyed dog still watching knowingly.

Once she was away, Vyncent turned on his father. "What the hell is wrong with you!" he shouted angrily. He was angry with Adriena yes, but years of protecting her from harm and the unexpected and uncalled for slap Arwin had delivered her, had shifted his anger to protectiveness. Vyncent wanted to know what Arwin was thinking as well.

"She was trying my patience, and I need to tell you something of great importance immediately before you and Adriena depart." Arwin replied with a glint of excitement in his green eyes.

"What?" Vyncent squinted in confusion.

"When I said gaining Robb Stark's favour would spare us, I spoke truly." Arwin explained. "It seems the young King has taken a..._liking_ to Adriena. His eyes seem to follow her and admire her...attractive attributes." Vyncent stared at his father with an odd expression on his face, one of shock and disgust at what his father was implying.

"If Adriena gains the King's trust and holds his ear, she could then use that to our advantage." Arwin concluded.

Vyncent's face twisted. "You want to _whore_ your daughter to a king?"

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><p><strong>Wasn't so sure about this, mainly because I had writers block half way through :( <strong>

**but what do YOU think?**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, those to thank for helping me get this one out:**

**Reviewers, (even though I only got 1 last chapter )  
>My sugar crash<br>My photography teacher for reawakening my love of GoT via talking about the book  
>And my brain for dwelling on how badly I needed to spit this out<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

Furiously, Adriena threw a few of her dresses onto her bed, her breathing uneven from her storming around the room, and tears in her eyes at the cold realization that this could be the last time she ever saw home.

Her body hunched forward suddenly, her face contorted as if a knife was twisting into her back and bending forward was the only way to escape the pain. Her trembling hands rested on the bed and she tried to breathe evenly.

Home...father, Kimya, Gwyn, Lydia...mother who was resting in this earth...

That last thought jolted her. If the next time she returned, would her sisters and father be alongside her mother in the cold, unforgiving earth? Would she and her brother return at all?

The night before, when she made it up to her room, her cheek still burned where Arwin's meaty hand had struck. The hall was thankfully, emptying out, the merriment officially being acknowledged as a lost cause by Vyncent's outburst and the subsequent leaving of their host and his daughter. Her sisters were gone, but Robb Stark was still there, lingering and slowly filing out with his men near the entrance. Her face flushed with humiliated anger at seeing his stupidly handsome face and just as appealing body, but she could do nothing but storm upstairs with all the dignity she could muster.

An hour later, Vyncent raised a tentative hand to the wood of her bedroom door. Adriena's foot still throbbed in pain from when she kicked her bed post in anger, and her side pounded from the exertion, but she half limped over to the door anyway, glaring at her brother's face. Her cheeks were red still and her eyes tired, Vyncent noticed, and he felt a stab of guilt for what he was about to tell her when she looked like she needed a good rest.

Still, he told her. He took her angry curses, her betrayed-teary stare, her slap. Vyncent left then, not able to control his own emotions and left for Nara and took her grief instead. Nara's sadness was more weeping than slapping.

The night was half gone when he brought her this news, and so, for the rest of the night, until the sounds of the early risers made her realize it was morning, she stayed up, the news heavy on her mind. Once, when she was a child, the idea of leaving the village for parts unknown had excited her, before she realized it was impossible. It frightened her now, leaving this familiar place, when her entire life had been told that she'd never leave.

Straightening, and scolding herself for being such a child and having a child's fears, Adriena carefully folded four dresses and stuffed them in her sack, her heart still whirling with questions and heavy with apprehension.

* * *

><p>Robb reread the short scroll of paper, carefully contemplating its message.<p>

The messenger he had sent out, had found a place to release the raven far quicker than he anticipated, and Lord Karstark's reply had only just arrived, the raven having been mistaken as being an enemy's.

The gully, where he and twenty others now stood, was just as cold as it had been the night before. The sound of snorting and fidgeting horses filled the freezing morning air.

Lord Karstark had settled the other half of the army around Pinkmaiden's perimeter, but was far enough away that they were not seen with the rolling hills providing cover. Karstark had arranged it so the troops blocked the roads leading from Pinkmaiden and took all travelers going to and from the outpost. Now he just awaited Robb's go ahead to storm the walls.

_Thank the gods_, Robb thought. Still, Pinkmaiden was too close to Golden Tooth (a Lannister outpost) for Robb's liking. He needed to move, cut off their retreat and take Pinkmaiden and stay strong against the Lannister's, should they decide to retake Pinkmaiden.

Where would the two new comers fit into this? He did not expect them to fight for him, for many reasons. They were untrustworthy and he knew he was not trusted by them. They'd stand by in battle surely, and part of Robb feared he'd lose his men's respect by bringing them along. But, to him, there was no other way. What was to stop the Hoff people from going to the Lannister's once they were gone? Adriena and Vyncent as assurance would make Robb sleep a little easier at night.

So, as Robb packed up his horse, he silently prayed that this choice was the right one.

* * *

><p>Kimya sniffled against Adriena's shoulder, her small hands resting behind her sister's shoulders. The village was around them, its inhabitants had come out to see the two of their own being taken off by the dire wolf demon as many of them called Robb now.<p>

"Kimya..." Adriena whispered her voice a painting of emotions.

Kimya pulled away, her face blotched red. Quietly, she whispered, "Be careful. If you meet a handsome soldier, remember Olanna's annoying lessons on the art of love." Kimya smiled weakly. Adriena smiled back and took her sister's hand in hers.

"Shut up." Adriena murmured good naturedly to her sister.

As Kimya slowly stepped away, Lydia rushed forward and griped at the fabric clothing Adriena's hips. Her face was buried into Adriena's stomach when the elder girl's arms wrapped around the younger.

Slowly, almost shyly, Gwyn approached her sisters. She and Adriena had never been close, but, they were around when it mattered. Adriena looked up in time to see Gwyn quickly take the last few steps toward them and wrap her arms around her sisters, her head resting awkwardly against Adriena's shoulder.

There were times that Adriena hated her sister, so much at times that she wished Gwyn would go and get lost in the woods. But all her previous little annoyances with the younger girl were forgotten in the face of Robb Stark. She leant her head a little against Gwyn's but kept both arms around Lydia. Neither girl would have it any other way.

Vyncent stood by, his thick arms set around Nara. Nara of the Moon Stone Caves was a strong girl, able to hunt and carry back her kill when her father's joints ached too much to do the task himself. Yet she wept as Vyncent prepared to leave. She had light brown hair, and freckled skin, and preferred smaller groups to large gatherings. So much like Vyncent. The day Vyncent came home all moony eyed and smiley, Adriena knew that Nara would be Vyncent's wife one day.

Nara's face was buried in Vyncent's chest, her hands clinging to the muscles on his arms. Kissing the crown of her sweet head once more, he pulled away and Nara's mother came rushing forward to console her teary eyed child.

Vyncent turned to Arwin then, talking with him in hushed tones. Adriena looked over at them, still hugging her sisters, and narrowed her eyes. Pride overshadowed her desire to hug her father goodbye as well, but when he looked at her, and quickly looked back to her brother as if this last goodbye was nothing, killed the want to bid him goodbye. With his new attitude, she didn't feel he deserved it.

"Come on!" a northern soldier ordered to escort them, shouted.

Pulling herself away from the other girls, as Vyncent muttered a quiet goodbye to their father, they slowly turned on their heels and walked toward the northern soldiers awaiting them. Adriena's pack was heavy against her back, but it didn't bother her. _Natalya's_ weight was all she felt, the heaviness around her neck giving her comfort.

She kept her eyes forward, gazing out with an absent mind and telling herself that she didn't need to take a last look at home because it wouldn't be the last time she saw it. If she turned back, and met her sisters and father's eyes...

She looked at Vyncent, seeing that he still glanced back to where Nara stood with her family. Carefully, she reached out and touched her fingers to the forearm of his injured hand. His still angry eyes flashed down to hers.

"It's not goodbye. I won't let it." Adriena murmured, her voice full of conviction.

Vyncent merely scoffed, portraying so many things with just one action.

Arwin watched his eldest go, his heart aching despite his clam, cold outer shell. It stung him a little that his daughter had not even bid him farewell, but she was stubborn, a lot like Ismae. She looked like her too... _Please_, he prayed, _don't let this be the end._

With that, his children and the solders disappeared into the foliage for the last time.

Samyella turned to him, her dark greying hair falling over one shoulder. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she glared at Arwin. Arwin did not look at his former sister-in-law, knowing that she knew what he had planned for his eldest daughter. After a few moments, she gave up that he would have enough nerve to look her in the eyes and turned away to the Hall, where her apartment was located.

* * *

><p>The trees and rocks went by in a blur of bleak colours that had once been vibrant in the summer. The horses' hooves <em>clicked<em> against the rocky floor of the gully and the few wagon's left, creaked and groaned as they rolled along.

This time their march was going quite faster than before, and Robb was hopeful they would reach the edge of the forest by nightfall. Suddenly, something cold and wet hit his cheek, and from experience, he knew it was snow. He nearly groaned aloud but refrained. Snow presented many obstacles but perhaps Robb could use the oncoming snow storm to his advantage.

A cold chill brushed against Adriena's fingers, sliding an icy finger through her hair and pulling the hood of her warm cloak down. The breeze soon reddened her cheeks and ears, but she could not be bothered to fix her hood. She griped the reigns of the horse so tight her knuckles paled white, her eyes were trained on her hands and her back remained rigid. She could faintly hear a man no too far off whisper to someone and laugh at her terrified state. But she could not be bothered with retaliation, she could not help it. She could barely remember the last time she'd been on a horse, and the slightly jerky movements of the horse at this height made her fear falling.

She let out shot gasp as the horse stepped on a rock that quickly gave way and jolted her body. The horse recovered quickly, but Adriena tightened her hands more, if it were possible.

Vyncent looked to his sister, her face bare to her fear of the animal and glanced to Robb Stark who looked forward. _Fear is not attractive_, he thought. Although Robb Stark was looking away soon he would look back and see his sister's face and Arwin's "plan", as he called it, would be put off.

Vyncent loved his sister, but it was her virtue or their villages' freedom and safety. He was damned whatever he chose.

So he leaned forward and hissed at Adriena, "Calm down! They'll think you're _weak_!" Adriena flinched from the sharp words, but slowly, straightened her back. Her stomach lurched as she looked forward, the world shaking as the horse moved on.

Catelyn kept a watchful eye on the Hoff strangers, not liking the way the fair haired man kept looking between his sister and her son. The woman was slim and couldn't stand a chance against the band of men physically, but she could attack through sneaky means, poison or use her womanly wiles to get close to the men surrounding Robb.

She would keep a close eye on her, but an even closer eye on the large burly man that was her brother.

* * *

><p>The snow came down in small flakes as night descended, swirling through the air and landing on the curled up, sleeping bodies that lined the ground.<p>

Adriena was among them. On the left side of the trench, she and Vyncent laid themselves down, carefully aware of the other men throwing themselves down for sleep around them. Her body was curled up underneath the sleeping furs she had packed with her. Her bottom was sore from sitting on the hard saddle all day, and her hands were stiff and ached from gripping the leather reigns so tightly.

For a long time, she laid there, away from her brother, her fingers resting on her lips in a worried manor.

This was the farthest she'd ever been away from home. It unnerved her. All these strangers around her did not help and she was thankful Vyncent had opted to stay up to keep watch.

They had been traveling all day, farther and farther from Hoff, until the trench sloped downward into a short, but steep hill. From there, the trees parted and they could plainly see the high walls of the castle.

Adriena had stared in awe at the stone structure. The walls were as tall as the highest of trees, and the tops of the pointed towers could be seen, the far off flag fluttering flaccidly in the cold, snowy wind. The snow swirled around in the air, thicker than before, starting to stick to the ground with thick flakes. The trees provided coverage from the icy fluff.

From the way Robb Stark had ordered no fires to be lit that night, and they way men did not venture out further toward the castle, Adriena concluded they were enemies. Were they planning to take _that?_ Although she prayed she was wrong, she felt that an attempt on the structure would be a blood bath.

She closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath, and only then did she realize how tired she was. The lack of sleep the previous evening had taken a toll on her. Quickly, languidly, before she knew what was happening, sleep drifted over her conscience and took her down into the abyss of dreams.

Robb leant against a tree, Grey Wind resting his large head on his leg, while Robb scratched behind his ear. He could not sleep; the messenger he'd sent out would surely be back soon.

Turning his head to the left, he sighed as he looked at the castle of Pinkmaiden, blurry with the swirling flakes of snow.

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><p>YEEEELLLLOOOOWWW! ;)<p>

also, don't forget the GoT X-mas awards!


	11. Chapter 11

**Holy! Great Christmas! 1: my sister is engaged to the guy she's been with for 5+ years and I'm gonna b a bridesmaid!  
>2: I got great gifts and great memories and ahhh, so good :D<br>So how was everyone's break? Good and safe I hope**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

From somewhere far off in a dream, she could hear footsteps, dozens of them—maybe hundreds—all muffled in the thick white snow lining the gully floor. She merely shifted, her knees curling closer to her chest as she continued to dream of summer time.

In her mind's eye, she could see the blossoms of the fruit trees, falling from the branches and fluttering softly to the lush, green earth as the sunlight streamed through the branches. She could see the tall grass dancing in the wind as _Govad_, the sky god, sent them a warm breeze. But the familiar rustling sound was replaced with a thumping—oddly _metallic_—sound.

Then, a loud scream broke through the veil and jolted Adriena awake, half sitting up and dazed, the old painful throb of her healing wounds a reminder of where she was.

It was so dark, the moon and stars being covered by the dark, snow heavy clouds. The large fire pits by the back entrance to the small city cast an eerie glow over everything around her, the long shadows making odd shapes.

Despite the darkness, she could tell by the flat space of furs next to her that Vyncent was not there. Panic swelled inside her.

"Vyncent!" she yelped.

"Shh!" someone hissed. With the whistle of the wind, it was difficult to detect where the sound came from, but she looked from side to side, searching for her brother. Her eyes caught sight of many burly silhouettes situated among the trees, like small boulders. Just ahead of her brother's vacant sleeping mats, there was a boulder that had a pointed leather cap; just like Vyncent's.

Quickly, she scrambled out of the barely warm furs and darted toward Vyncent's shadowy form. What was happening? Why was he over there? Was he alright?

Adriena had been surrounded by family her entire life, her sisters, her brother, her aunt, her father and cousins. Even old Helsa had been a type of grandmotherly figure, even if she was a bitter, broken down old bat. Now she only had Vyncent and they needed to protect each other.

On her knees she darted toward him, her legs still weak with fatigue and unable to stand.

Vyncent was on the little hill that was on the edge of the forest, the hill that suddenly dropped off into a grassy field and let to the holdfast of Pinkmaiden. The cold earth chilled her through her dress and the coarse, rocky ground scraped her knees. She grabbed his arm, her long nimble fingers tight around his bicep in questioning worry.

"What are you doing?" she hissed in a curious rush. Later, she would reflect on how much of a mother-hen she sounded like at that moment, her voice so hitched with worry and shaky with curiosity. On any other circumstance she may have furrowed her brow in embarrassment, but not now.

"Look." he whispered back to her, his voice almost lost in the wind. Adriena looked.

She didn't see them at first, not clearly anyway. They looked like living shadows along the bottom of the high wall, not many of them either; maybe twenty. She frowned, trying to get a better look and to know what they were doing. Still, as she watched, she kept a tight hold of her brother, ready to pull him away if danger arose.

Theon Greyjoy bit his lip as the arrow flew through his fingers, straight up into the battlements of the castle. In the swirling white fluff, the arrow disappeared quickly and if it wasn't for a nearly inaudible _clink _from up above he would have believed it lost.

Robb stared at Theon's fleeting form as he started to climb up the rope. It was freezing cold out here in the open, frost biting at him through his clothes and so, he was near positive the guards that would normally have been patrolling the battlements, were gone from their respective posts. It was simply too cold and windy to stand outside, watching for madmen daft enough to attempt an attack. At least, that's how the Greatjon saw Robb's plan. Robb did not like to think he was a madman, just smart enough to see the coverage that came with a freezing snow storm.

An especially harsh snap of wind struck Robb's face making thick flakes of white stick to his beard. Before a hiss could escape from his clenched teeth, his hands flashed forward and clutched the rope Theon was currently dangling from.

Adriena, Vyncent and the other onlookers squinted as the harsh gusts blew toward them. For a few moments they were blinded.

Adriena put her head down to the ground to protect her face from the bitterly cold wind. It was so cold! It had never been this cold before, the kind of cold that cut down deep into her bones and threatened to freeze. She was used to the pleasant warmth of summer, the ripe fruits and gleaming sun. This new, frozen world was entirely new to her still, months old as it was.

Moments ticked by, each one marked with a strong, freezing gust of wind. Her un-gloved fingers numbed in the cold, her cloak blew madly behind her, whipping too-and-fro. Chunks of her dark hair quickly came undone from the tight braid her aunt had twisted her hair into. Adriena's free hand curled into a fist, while her other hand wound even tighter around Vyncent's arm. Part of her feared she'd be blown away if she did not hold on.

Finally, after what felt like ages, the wind died down. A weak attempt for another wild gust, then an even weaker flutter, and the wind stopped. Or at least, stopped blowing into the trees where they laid waiting. For what, Adriena was not entirely sure, but she had a fair guess.

Slowly, Adriena looked up. The snow was still swirling in the dark, the white sheen still covering the castle from their view for the most part. _Wonderful_, she thought cynically. _Bloody wolf-madman-boy_. _How can he expect decent back-up when they can't even see ten feet in front of them?_

Her pessimistic thoughts were abruptly cut short when a loud whistle sliced through the humming air like a sword. At once, the men lined up at the end of the gully charged forward, and they too were lost in the storm. Adriena bit her lip, watching the cover of white and training her ears for any sound but the hissing-whistle of the wind through the trees.

A loud, deep, blaring sound rumbled suddenly. A horn. From Pinkmaiden.

Apart from the horn, nothing more was heard. The wind was strong and covered their eyes from battle and shielded their ears from the sounds of men dying and metal clashing.

Slowly, the wind died down, the snow stopped falling and the clouds began to recede. In the late morning sun, Lord Karstark opened the back-gates, his armour bloody and his white hair sticking to his forehead despite the cold.

* * *

><p>Robb sighed as he looked out at the main square within Pinkmaiden's walls. Many men lay still, bloody and dead, some wearing the Lannister's or the Piper's colours, others wearing the bleak colours of the North. Robb grimaced as Grey-Wind nudged a corpse with his snout.<p>

"Grey-Wind," Robb called. "to me." The half grown dire-wolf trotted to him, nuzzling his large head against Robb's outreached hand. The long, flowing movement of a dress caught his eye and Robb looked to his right to see his mother, along with the two Hoff people walking toward him with Lord Karstark behind them. His mother only looked at him, while the two other's stared in amazement at all the cadavers around them.

Robb felt a pang of pity. He had seen that look before, the wonder at seeing so much death for the first time. He'd seen it on a green-boy's face after battle, he was sure that was the look on his face after his first battle. He saw it on Adriena's pretty face now, and it twisted something in his gut unpleasantly.

"Robb," Catelyn smiled gratefully at seeing her eldest alive and unscathed. She took his bloody, gloved hands in hers and asked, "Are there any survivors?"

"Three Lannister knights and Lord Piper's sons." Robb answered. Catelyn nodded, smiling tightly and turning away and beginning to walk toward the keep.

Robb turned to Vyncent and Adriena, standing awkwardly as they saw Lady Stark walk off.

"We will sleep here tonight," Robb said _without_ the robust pride that usually came after victory. "someone will show you to a bed chamber." Adriena's eyebrows narrowed, confused and glared at his retreating back as he walked away.

_Why offer us a room_, she wondered as pair of armed guards led them inside the castle.

The acrid smell of something burning wafted over her nose as the large doors creaked open. The inside of the castle was like nothing Adriena had ever seen, beautiful and ugly at the same time. It was apparent that the four crossing hallways were once beautifully decorated, but the tapestries were shredded, the pottery smashed, and there was blood, as well as discarded weapons on the floor.

Adriena's full lips parted in disgust as she spied a bloody hatchet on the stone floor, beneath it a sickening pool of drying blood. She looked away. For the rest of the walk to wherever this gaunt man was taking them, Adriena kept her eyes on the floor, watching as her dress kicked up as she walked.

All this death, she thought, not natural. Men in these numbers shouldn't die by the thousands...what was this Robb Stark doing? Why? What was so important that it cost him hundred's of men's lives?

Finally, they were there, and the gaunt-faced man ushered them in, grunting out, "Bloody savages".

Two pairs of green eyes wandered over the room, cautiously setting down their packs. The chamber was not especially grand, a narrow bed in the center against the wall, an unmade fire in the far left corner and an empty looking chest near the window. Beneath the window, there was a puddle of water, no doubt from the snow that had gotten in the night before. It wasn't much, but it was much more than she expected.

* * *

><p>The night was cold but the small fire sufficed for Adriena and Vyncent. They had been in the chamber all day, no visitors. Well, there was one mousy girl, with tied back brown hair that simply came in to set down a trey of porridge and milk.<p>

Adriena sat down by the window, sitting on the low-ridding sill. Her cloak had long been shed, and her boots long unlaced. Her bare feet ran along the rough, grainy stone floor, enjoying the rough, odd texture of it. Her feet were cold, but she had walked barefoot in the forest many times, so the cold was not too bad.

Her brother slept soundly on the small bed, using his thick cloak for a blanket. As his silent snores filled the room, anxiousness began to creep in. She had been in this room too long, and soon, she was grasping the handle to the door, looking back at her brother once more, before opening the door a little. She peeked out the crack and finding no one in the halls, she stepped out into the open.

A thrill shot through her as she silently crept down the hallways, each crack, creak and sigh of the castle made her heart leap in exhilaration. The pleasure of exploring new and potentially dangerous surroundings was a delight she rarely got to experience. Unfortunately, the wonder of it all wore off when she realized how long she'd been exploring.

All the halls looked the same to her, and every step she took, the more it seemed to change. The large grey urn that had been in the hall leading to their chamber was nowhere to be found and she began to worry.

All these _halls_! What if they went to her room and only found Vyncent? Would they think she was trying to escape? Would they kill her? Kill Vyncent?

Fear began to show its ugly head, and her feet started shuffling faster, when suddenly she turned a corner, and slammed into something solid.

A startled gasp escaped Adriena's lips as she stumbled back. She stared to tip backwards when a strong hand flashed forward and encircled her wrist. The unexpected move made her wrist throb and ache but she could not be bothered with it as she snapped her eyes up to see the man who had caught her.

Robb stared down at the woman he had just prevented from falling. With her dark, rich brown hair and green eyes, it only took a moment to realize who she was. Her face and unusual story stuck in his memory.

"What are you doing?" he asked, still holding her in the awkward half-up and half-down position he'd caught her in.

Adriena narrowed her eyebrows in annoyance. He catches her from falling and his first reaction is to ask her that? "_Let me_ _up_, please." she grumbled, glaring at Robb Stark's pretty blue eyes. She bit the inside of her cheek painfully. The hand around her wrist was painful, but was pleasantly warm...not that it made their current position any less painful.

Robb hesitated a moment, watching her with careful eyes. Without fear or shyness, she watched back, the same caution etched on her fair face. Slowly, Robb pulled her back up. As soon as Adriena's bare feet were settled on the cold stone once more, she moved to pull away, but Robb held to her arm in a firm grip.

"What were you doing out here?" he asked emphatically. Adriena's narrowed eyes looked down at the hand still on her with annoyance, but answered anyway.

"Walking." she muttered simply.

"You _ran_ into me." Robb replied.

"Running, then." It was then that she noticed that the auburn haired male's hand was no longer painfully tight, but had grown a lot gentler in the short time span. She curled her toes, a confused gesture.

"Why?" Robb asked again, starting to grow impatient with this woman and her answers. If she was trying to escape, a pair of iron shackles would be attached to her delicate little wrists.

A ghost of a grin crossed Adriena's lips at the Wolf King's growing annoyance. "Well why are you out here, alone at night?"

"I asked you first." Robb said impatiently.

Adriena sighed. "That room is too small for two people to be kept in all day," she was about to speak again when Robb cut her off.

"You want a bigger room—?" he frowned in disbelief.

"No!" Adriena swore hastily. The thought (although attractive) had never crossed her mind. "No, it's well enough. I only wanted to walk out of boredom."

He studied her a second. Her green eyes were honest, but he was still cautious. "Come on." he said. Still holding her wrist, he gently tugged her down the hall, toward where her room was.

Adriena resisted a moment, even considered running, but knew she had no choice but to go along with the young man. She only hoped whatever he was doing, would not be malevolent in nature and end up hurting her.

They walked a few moments in silence. Adriena was still tense, but when they turned a corner, she saw the familiar window overlooking a garden that she had passed earlier. She smiled for a second when she realized he was taking her back to her room. Surely he would not do anything with Vyncent only a door away? No, surely not.

"I wasn't trying to escape." she said as they passed the window and started up a flight of steps.

"Men with battle fresh minds, see different." Robb didn't want to come right out and call her a liar, but he didn't want to let the comment slide either.

She grimaced in slight irritation. "I wasn't! If I was trying to escape, I'd take my brother with me and we'd be half way home by now." she gloated a little.

Robb's lips tugged at her proud, smug voice. "Shadow cats sleep during the day and hunt at night." he recalled absently. From his one night in the Hoff village, it wasn't hard to determine that the Hoff people were very connected to the large feline beast.

Adriena stared at the back of his head a moment. His comment had flattered her a little. "Yes." she whispered.

The rest of the short trek to the bed chamber was silent. Finally, when they stood outside of the wooden door, he let go of her wrist, the cold air rushing toward the warm skin and chilling it.

Adriena nodded her head in a silent expression of thanks before moving to open the door. Robb's voice stopped her.

"You should sleep. You look tired." She looked back in time to see his back disappear behind the bend, leaving her in a stunned and irritated silence.

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><p>Hello again my dears! So how's this chapter?<br>:D


	12. Chapter 12

**Hi once more. please review...please.**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

Vyncent was restless. His crippled hand ached sharply against his chest beneath its bandages, his back grew stiff against the cold stone floor he laid on and he could not close his eyes without getting a headache.

Closing his eyes meant memories would come up, most pulled his insides down into an endless, deep abyss of guilt and disgust and anger, but sometimes they were good, only the longing he got from these memories hurt him as much as the bad ones.

He looked up at the slender hand of his sister, flung over the edge of the bed she slept on.

When he awoke hours ago, Adriena was not there in the room with him, the chair by the closed shutters, empty. At first, he was merely confused. Where had she gone? Was she mocking him?

But where was there to hide? The room was too small, and outside...

The realization hit him like the blow of a fist to his belly. His heart plummeted. He knew his sister well enough to know that she grew restless at night a tended to walk until her feet were cold and sore. Her walks would take her from the time the moon hung high in the velvet black sky, to when the sun just peeked over the horizon.

He heard Adriena shift in the creaky bed, the hand that had been flung over the edge was pulled back in, and the only way he knew she was there, was her breathing.

As he got up to leave to look for his foolish sister, the door creaked open, Adriena's body slipping though the opening. Finding her brother standing there, she bit her lip and awaited the lecture he was bound to give her.

An odd creature, his sister was. When they were younger, and she developed and was no longer the little girl she had been, Old Helsa's daily lessons in the female arts were the bane of Adriena's existence. It was age old custom in Hoff that when adolescence came about, a girl was put into lessons and taught how to be a woman and a mother.

As his sister sewed and cooked and cleaned and sung, she grew more and more restless at night and started walking.

"That stupid old bat is always complaining that I don't stitch right or that the animal isn't cleaned right or that _I'm_ not right_._" she complained to him one night when she was eleven and he was fifteen.

His sister was not tactless _completely_; she could shoot a bow and had enough wit to make other children stop mocking her when she shamed herself. She could make herself look pretty if she wanted and was actually quite fair in dice games. More than once had she taken local boys for all they had. But none of these traits were what people, men (potential husbands in particular) looked at with a grin. When Adriena was twelve, he overheard Old Helsa rant that "the stupid, head-strong, and-and _boyish_ _girl_" was unsuitable to be a wife.

Vyncent scoffed at himself. He had never cared for his father's or Helsa's, marriage prospects for Adriena. Who she swore her vows to and who fathered her children were of no consequence to him, as long as she was happy (if not content), safe, and could do her duty as head councilwoman. Vyncent would be chief someday, and a chief needed council with a right-minded person.

That all changed when Arwin told him of his _new_ plans for Adriena's maidenhead.

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><p><em><strong>Hoff, the night of the feast...<strong>_

"_I want you to ensure this plan does not go astray." his father had said with a firm voice. _

_Vyncent stared at his father in a potent mixture of disgust, shock, anger and slight confusion. "No. No, I won't do this to her. Not my own sister." he shook his head._

_Arwin's eyes narrowed, flashing and dangerous. "You don't have a choice." his father growled. "Adriena _will be_ mistress to the King of the North, our village will be safe, or," Arwin's eyes saddened, but hid his fears behind his cold mask, as he always did. "You will be marked a traitor, cast out, and Nara will be given to a _real_ man." _

_Vyncent's crippled had twitched, the remaining fingers curling together at the slur on his manhood and Nara. _

_If any other man had said this, Vyncent would have taken it as a challenge. Any other man, they would have been fighting on the ground right now. Any other man, Vyncent would have broken their fingers. Vyncent, however, remained silent, his eyes burning with the need to beat the man who suggested such horrendous things. Why did he have to be his father as well? _

_Arwin's lips twitched up in a bitter smile. "Good. You leave on the morrow, tell your sister." Arwin called as he walked away._

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><p>This was the first time Vyncent had thought back to that horrid conversation since that night. If he failed, he lost his place, he lost Nara—the woman he loved more than the stars and moon at night—and his village and people could be destroyed. If he succeeded, his own sister would hate him for pushing her into the bed of a man she abhorred. She would hate him for turning her into a common whore.<p>

With much hate toward his father for putting him in this terrible situation, Vyncent opted that his sister's dignity was a mere blade of grass to the rest of the forest.

He had not told her of her new duty as of yet. How could he? They had just left all they knew behind.

He would try to hold off promoting his sister to the 'King' as long as he could, and dreaded the day when he would push Adriena in the direction of Robb Stark's bed.

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><p>Just a short lil bit of insight into Vyncent's mind. More to come soon!<br>**again: please REVIEW!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Okay, I REALLY want to thank the fallowing,  
><strong>Save-Ted24, 97hollster, PrincessOfSilence, PaddySnuffles, gabbi3

And Everyone else that has reviewed for me in the past! :D, you guys are great ;D

Also, everyone that has favoured or alerted!

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><p><strong>Chapter 13<strong>

_Damn this horse_, Adriena thought the as animal stepped into a puddle, making her wrench forward on her saddle.

The lengthy, overgrown road before them was narrow and twisting, barely room for two men to ride side by side without being swallowed up by the gray forest around them. However, Vyncent remained by her side, both of them ignoring the branches that scratched and swiped at their faces.

Theon Greyjoy rode behind them, and Vyncent did not want his sister to have to feel the oily little man's eyes on her back by herself while he rode ahead. The smirk Greyjoy always had on his face made Vyncent and Adriena both uncomfortable. Did he know something they did not? The thought was unnerving.

After that night in Pinkmaiden, after leaving Adriena scowling at the chamber door, Robb returned to Lord Piper's abandoned solar, drawing up plans with his lords and men.

As he walked to the solar, Robb started to think about Adriena. A foolish girl, he thought, to be walking when so many are ready to open her up without remorse. And although, they had only said a few sentences to one another, she seemed irritable and bold. This vexed Robb, knowing this temperament would get her killed, but he sealed that passage and made himself not care about the girl's mannerisms. If she were alive and safe, that was all that mattered.

It was decided that a hundred and fifty men would remain at the holdfast they'd taken, whilst the rest of them traveled onward.

Catelyn believed it would be better to leave the two "Hoff savages", as they were dubbed, there in Pinkmaiden, because they would only weigh down progress, but Robb remained adamant. He had learned in the training yard at Winterfell that sometimes your first reaction and instinct, was the right one and his instinct told him to keep the two strangers close.

So, as the sun rose on the horizon, marking the second day since Pinkmaiden had been reclaimed by Northern forces, a long line of men of horses, wagons and foot soldiers marched off toward the east.

That had been over a week ago, and with each passing day, Adriena's home grew farther and farther away.

This was not what she used to hope it would be like. She had pictured large fields of green grass with the blue silk of the sky above, no trees, no shrubs...just open space, a place to run without a tree or cliff or river in your way, _endless_ freedom.

A half bitter, half nostalgic smile came to Adriena's lips as she thought of her girlhood dreams. When she was young, she could not recall exactly how old, she had told Vyncent of her hopes of one day visiting the place of her imaginings. Vyncent, being much older and wiser than her, told her the truth: that she may never ever go there.

Now, looking back, it seemed so stupid to have prayed to _Natalya_ for..._this_. This bleak and cold back road, on a horse that seemed intent on making her fall and a dire wolf somewhere hidden in the trees...no, she'd much rather be at home.

The path went on and on, twisting and turning, even once going over an old bridge that made Adriena's heart stutter in fear and her knuckles turn white around the reigns. Still, she kept up her stony mask. "Nothing good ever comes when people know your fears", Arwin had said.

Later that night, the troop finally made camp in an abandoned field that had once supported rich crops. The snow was powdery and puffed upwards with each step Robb made through the busy camp. Tents were being erected, horses watered and fed, stew and broth being made.

Adriena winced as Vyncent pulled her down off the wretched animal she had been seated upon all day. Her brother gripped her arm tightly as they made their way toward the steward named Calys, the man they'd been told to stick by.

Her brother's grip hurt, but she did not fight. His hold on her arm was safe, a life-line back to home in Hoff, but at the same time his grip was threatening. He had ranted and raved for almost an hour that night and for a brief moment, but she knew he was not angry enough to strike her. She had not been cold enough to Robb Stark; she had even felt _flattered_ at one of his damned remarks! She felt an odd weight of guilt inside her. The guilt of betrayal.

Avoiding and dodging burly bodies that sped past, Adriena and Vyncent reached the steward who stood behind a large cart and appeared to be counting the items inside. Her brother let up when they reached Calys, her arm throbbing in pain and a pang of irritation bubbling up in her chest.

"Calys." Vyncent addressed gruffly.

The old man looked to the siblings with disinterest but his thick brow creased ever so slightly. "Hm, the Hoff wildlings...come, I assume you're able to put up a tent."

Many long, blistering hours later, the large tent was up, and many stewards and squires bustled about inside the structure as they tended to their betters' needs and prepared supper. Adriena sat on the cot she'd been given, staring dully at the melting snow under her boots. Vyncent lay on his cot, his large hands under his head, his eyes closed although he wasn't asleep.

She looked around the tent, seeing the faces she did not know and the way they worked like a hive full of buzzing bees, all moving around and working.

With boredom, the dark haired young woman awkwardly laid back on the cot as well, the wound on her side pulsed in another painful reminder of why she was here. Her arms resting on her chest, she stared at the dark fabric that made up the roof.

Was this to be her home now? A tent? Oddly enough, she felt nothing at the thought. Not anger nor sadness...perhaps she was so deep in the sea of her mourning and anger that the grief that this new thought would normally present, was lost. Suddenly the old memory of her time in the _Natalya's_ Deep Wood flashed before her eyes.

_Natalya's_ Wood, was a special place, a place where prayers were heard by the goddess' nymph children and carried on the wind to Natalya. The grove where one prayed was small, secluded, near the old Cat's eye hot springs where people who just married went to bathe together, to cleanse themselves of their old lives, their old wrongs, before marriage. The trees were set in a large circle, the oak trees so tall that in the height of summer, the leaves were so thick the sun could barely get through to the little grassy clearing below. The oaks grew in a circle, and it was there that Adriena walked to at night, to speak to her mother though she hardly remembered the woman and what memory she had of her started to fade more and more. Sometimes she would fall asleep, only to be awoken by the songs of the birds and quickly dash home before the sun awoke the roosters as well.

Adriena was never more at peace than when she laid in that clearing, the thick tree trunks forming a protective, comforting barrier around her. She lay thinking of that when Vyncent rose up a while later and nudged her suddenly, alerting her that supper was served

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><p>The heart-tree was old, the gnarled roots showing and the pale trunk battered by time and wind and rain. But it was a heart-tree nonetheless, its red eyes watching over this little bit of South for the North where all its fellow trees had been hacked down long ago.<p>

When he had left Winterfell, he had said one last prayer in the Godswood for his family and this rebellion he had just started and had almost forgotten the peace he found sitting in the utter silence under the Old Gods' eyes.

Before supper, he and many other nobles and soldiers from the North had come to this heart-tree, proclaiming it a sign from the Old Gods that they were on the right path and victory was assured. Robb had replied that the Old Gods did not assure anything and to not let the presence of the tree affect their skill on the battle field.

A few stayed to pray, but soon left and all that remained was Robb, even when supper was called did he stay there, sitting on an over turned log, his sword by his side, Grey Wind on the other.

This Godswood was so unlike Winterfell's: there were no pools of steaming, murky water that reflected like glass, the trees branches did not stretch up proudly toward the sky with a thousand blood-red leaves fluttering softy. No, instead this Godswood had been abandoned years and years ago, shrubs overgrowing about the base of the trunk, it's leaves hanging limply in clusters, and it was quite a lot smaller than he was used to seeing. Nonetheless it was quiet and peaceful, just like at home.

Bowing his head, he prayed for the first time since he left Winterfell.

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><p><em>Men are disgusting<em>, Adriena thought with a grimace as she watched _yet another_ man pull a whore onto his lap, laughing gaily while he ran his hands up and over her thighs, her belly and stopping just below her breasts.

Vyncent and Adriena sat outside the circle of stewards and ate their stew quietly, the Hoff siblings ever vigilant as a shadow cat on the hunt. She noticed how everyone had their own particular circles, same as in Hoff, the lords, the knights, their squires, the foot soldiers and finally the stewards...then them.

Adriena was at first shocked to see such a woman in the middle of this...camp, but when she thought of it, it made sense. "Men have needs, and every once in a while a man _needs_ to find a woman to...mate with...for many reasons." her aunt had said to her. It wouldn't shock her if she found out Robb Stark himself had himself a pretty whore in his bed at that moment, why he was not there with the rest of them.

_Wonderful_, she thought with a rueful chuckle, _we've been given to a man who beds whores_. Not even a man yet, she thought bitterly. He looked as old as she and was _she_ out there playing war and calling herself queen? No certainly not! So why was this boy, this Stark, marching toward the south with all these men and that bloody wolf-beast on his back?

She was broken from her thoughts when the knight who owned that whore stood up and demanded she sing, the smile never leaving his face. Acting shy, the buxom woman stood, her pale flaxen hair falling down to her thighs, and opened her mouth to sing. The notes were flat and some overly high, but the men seemed enthralled with her song.

Thankfully, it was over soon and the men dissolved away to their tents for sleep. Adriena and her brother walked back to the steward tent, sparing not a glance at anyone and went to their cots without a word, a look or a care.

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><p><em>The ropes burned her wrists, scratching and burning against her skin until her wrists were raw and nearly bleeding. The revolting, deafening jibes of the town's people made her ears ring. Their words were lost among a sea of other insults but still her heartbeat and her breathing were the thundered in her ears as the executioner unsheathed the golden sword, sharp and cold as ice, and started towards her... <em>

Adriena shot up from the cot, her unbound hair falling down her shoulders and resting on her heaving bosom. She panted for breathe as though she had just run for her life, and looked about the room she had just awoken in. Over a dozen sleeping bodies littered the inside of the tent and it was quiet.

The fear from that dream had settled as heavy as lead in her stomach.

Leaning forward, mindful of her still healing side, she rested her hands on her bent knees, trying to calm herself into a state that would allow her to sleep again.

After a long while, she swung her feet over the edge of the cot, finding her boots in the dim light, and stood. Years of ritual drove her from the tent and to the forest not twenty feet away.

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><p>Robb was not sure how long he had been there, but it must have been quite some time as the sounds from the far off camp had died away some while ago.<p>

No matter how long he'd been there, he still thought, prayed and visited old memories; some that made him want to weep.

He folded his hands before him and rested his chin on his knuckles. What would his father think, waging war on the crown he and other northern nobles had fought to win? Eddard Stark was a man of honour, so why had he been arrested and executed? Robb knew, beyond a doubt, that his father would never go against the King. So why arrest him?

There had been whispers, stemming from Stannis that the Queen and her brother, the Kingslayer, had carried on an incestuous relationship that sprouted forth the three children that were said to be Robert Baratheon's.

Robb frowned. It was a sickening, monstrous notion, but...it was possible wasn't it? Those three children looked more like Cersei than Robert, and didn't have any of the latter in them. Robb remembered back in the training yard at Winterfell, during the time the King had come to make his father Hand. Robb recalled how he and that little shit called Joffrey had sparred and when he'd won, Joffrey threw a hissy fit and stormed off. Sons took after their father's, they said, but Robb had never seen nor heard of a time that King Robert threw a fit like that.

He scratched Grey Wind behind the ears, earning a half nuzzle in the dire wolf's sleeping state. No, he thought, not possible. Who could ever see their sibling like..._that?_ Joffrey was simply spoiled, he figured. A shit excuse for a king.

Suddenly a branch snapped, and Grey Wind shot up and bared his mighty teeth.

Robb stood, tense and ready, but instead of a large burly attacker, he saw a woman in her night dress, Adriena from Hoff, holding to a tree and staring at Grey Wind in a mix of shock and fear.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey, ya, I know, 3 months and no update :(

but there were a great many reasons why, and one of them is seeming lack of interest.  
>another is my lack of internet 12 the time *hysterical sobbing*

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><p><span>Chapter 14<span>

"You keep that beast _away_!" She shrieked, her voice frightened.

Robb looked at her, watching as she tensed at Grey Wind's quiet growl. Her body was obscured by the thick trunk of the tree, but he could see that she, once again, was only in her nightly garb. A wool shift that fell to her shins with a bodice that clung to her midsection, showing her womanly curves delightfully. The collar was higher cut now for modesty but it was wide and showed to tops of her shoulders, and the long sleeves were loose and puffed a little, but he could clearly see the rise of her breasts and the soft curve of her bare shoulder. He ignored the leap his stomach gave and fixed her with a stern glare. A moment passed before he called Grey Wind to him, both man and beast still watching the woman with their careful eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. Adriena swallowed, still peeking out from behind the tree, and looked at Robb Stark. Alone there in the woods, with only him and his mongrel, Adriena felt the heat of fear chew at her heart, but because she was her father's daughter, she refused to show it.

"Walking." She said, repeating her answer from their last encounter.

Robb glared at her. "You walk too much. Next time it might get you killed." He warned. It was not a threat, but a real warning. Her people had killed many of his men and the ones left alive wanted retribution. Though this woman irked him every time they met, he wished nothing ill toward her. He supposed if he were in her shoes, he might be just as hostile.

"Don't threaten me." She hissed, her eyes narrowing angrily. Robb saw that her green eyes seemed to brighten with anger, but also with fear. Robb felt guilty.

"I'm not," Robb said. "It's true, lady, and I meant no harm in telling you facts."

Adriena eyed him up a moment, trying to determine if he was truthful. She watched his face, how his eyes seemed to look through her and at her at the same time, as if he wasn't fooled by the mask, but still couldn't see through it to what her real feelings were and what her real plans detailed.

Taking her bottom lip between her slightly crooked teeth, Adriena looked away from the Young Wolf.

"I'm not a lady." She mumbled under her breath. _I am a councilwoman though, future anyway. Not that it matters to him; he thinks I'm just a stupid savage like the rest of his men_. Although she hated to admit it, their words got to her. Constant whispers seemed to ring in her ears every moment she was awake and if it wasn't a whisper, it was a glare. It might have been easier if they were silent in their judgement, but they weren't. She was not made of stone, not incapable of feeling as they—the northerners—believed. Showing emotion to them could be twisted and made into a weakness. Perhaps as time wore on and their presence was old to them, she and Vyncent would not hear the slur '_Savage'_, spat at them at least once a day by some embittered soldier.

It was all Vyncent's fault anyway. Men turned into brothers in war, and Vyncent's aggressive plan had killed many of their brothers. It had alerted Robb Stark of their presence, and now there they were: hostages. It seemed stupid to her. The Realm was large and vast, and their village was small and secluded. What harm could they do to this army? Why so cautious? So fearful?

For a long while they stood there awkwardly, each expecting the other to leave and head back for camp. Neither moved.

"What are you doing here?" Robb asked suddenly. Adriena looked up. "Give me a _real_ answer." He ordered.

Adriena licked her lips, eyes flashing toward the beast at his side before saying, "I wasn't trying to escape if that's what you're thinking." Robb said nothing, giving her his answer. "Where is it I'm to go if I ran? Why do you always think that?" she said, her eyes narrowing in a way that almost looked sad. She was not sad because of his assumption, she was sad because it was wrong. If she could, she'd run in a second, except there was nowhere to run _to_. This world was strange and foreign, _his_ world. Not hers.

Robb knew she was right, he knew that she wouldn't get anywhere if she tried to run, but after so long of being on edge, worried over spies and traitors, it had made him cautious of newcomers.

"For the same reason your brother stares down those that look at you too long." Robb replied shortly. "I don't trust you." Adriena tensed at his words. He had been watching them?

"I don't trust you either." She replied.

"Then leave." Robb ordered. "This is a holy place anyway. You have no right to be here." Robb didn't want to be so cold, but he wanted to be alone, with his thoughts and gods.

Adriena was taken aback by his abrupt and harsh words, but quickly, anger arose. "I'm not yours to _order_ around, Robb Stark." She hissed lowly, mindful of the creature standing at ready. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them, fearing whatever hidden and foul temper this stranger had.

She moved back a little.

"I am king," Robb stated. He had seen her tense up, but had no intention of proving whatever fear she governed right.

For some reason, at that, the wire inside Adriena snapped. Forgotten was the imposing beast at the Northern King's side, lost was her fear, and without meaning to, words spilled from her mouth without filter, a sudden rush of emotion pouring out from her, unable to hold back any longer. "Not my king!" she cried suddenly. For a moment, her face lost its hard mask and revealed the emotion beneath. Her brows pinched together in a sad but angry way and her cheeks flushed. "You've stolen me away from my family." Tears glistened in her eyes. "Do you have _any_ idea how it feels to be so far from them? It's like losing a bit of yourself."

Her head was clouded, no rational thought, only blind emotion. There was a buzzing sound in her ears, making it difficult to think. The only thing she was aware of was how good it felt to get that out and how strangely satisfying it was to have Robb Stark's blue eyes staring at her so surprised.

Robb watched in fascination as the young woman drew in deep breaths. Her face held more emotion than he'd ever seen on her. Her eyes were wild, vivid and green, shining in the dark with sadness and anger, her pale face flushed red, the colour rushing down her neck and to her bosom.

She actually looked quite beautiful when she showed her real feelings, like back in Hoff the night before they'd set off. When she was not cold and stony as she always tried to be, Robb found himself wondering how gorgeous she would be if she were smiling. But he quickly dismissed the thought in a rush to respond.

"I have a family too, girl. Someone is hurting and killing my family so now I'm here." Robb snapped at her. His voice broke through the buzzing in her head and brought her back down. Her face remained downcast and angry, but softened a little in surprise.

'_Liar!_' she'd wanted to scream out at first, like an impudent child, but the look in his eyes startled her and stopped her line of defiant comebacks.

He was at war for his family...a noble cause but still, what lengths would he go to in order protect those closest to him? Would he kill armies, tear apart other families to get his own back, or to avenge them? What was even more shocking to her was that Robb Stark had told her what he was fighting for. _Her!_ a hostage he hated.

"I know what I'm fighting for, because I have lost most of them, they're not safe in Winterfell. You _know_ your family is safe, so don't talk to me about loss." Robb said his voice sharp as a blade. As a King, he had had to keep himself composed at all times, always cool always drawn up, this was the first time he was able to snap, to let emotions run bare. It was unnerving to let them out at the girl, this oddity.

For such a long moment, the woods were silent, letting their words hang in the air. Adriena shifted back, her summer green eyes once again flashing to Robb's wolf, before looking back to the young man.

_That was an unexpected turn._

She looked at his eyes, finding that they held an emotion too deep to name. Loss or anger, sadness or spite—it made no matter what his eyes might have told, because at that moment, Adriena felt something strange: _empathy_ for Robb Stark.

He loved his family that was certain. She loved hers. He had started a war for them, why, she did not entirely know, but it was for the people he loved. How many other men could make that claim? The lessons taught in Hoff said that most wars are started over greed, lust for woman or land, hatred, petty little differences that should never have caused a war.

It was disturbing this feeling of understanding. If it were anyone but Robb Stark, it would not have bothered her, but it _was_ him. The man who stole her and Vyncent away, the man who was the root of all this pain and loss she felt. Still, he had a family he loved, as did she. He wanted his safe and she could relate to that, even if his ways of ensuring their safety meant the deaths of armies.

She was curious about his war; who they were fighting and what for, but never voiced her questions, not even to her own brother.

Awkwardly, she looked away from him, not sure what to say or feel. Several moments passed before either of them spoke.

Finally, the woman said: "I'm...s-sorry for your family." The comment shocked even her, but she boldly looked at his face, unwilling to show the slightest bit of shame at her earlier words. She wasn't sorry about saying what she felt, not now. It didn't look like he was going to sic his wolf on her.

Robb looked at her, both of their faces once again cautious and guarded, and grumbled a quiet, "Thank you."

Neither knew what to do anymore, they had never been in this situation. Robb didn't want to snap at her again, order her about and tell her what to do; it would just land them in a battle of wills, before she lost her nerve and remembered Grey Wind. He didn't want to threaten her, she was a woman and even though a savage, he had been taught to treat all women with respect and delicacy.

Adriena wanted to leave; this was making her very uncomfortable, and she wanted to smack herself for feeling something other than abhorrence for this man. But there were many things Adriena wanted: she wanted to go home, she wanted to argue with her sisters again, wanted to feel the sleek wood of a bow between her fingers, feel the arrow fly and hit its mark. But alas, none of that seemed to be coming any time soon, but it was her pride that kept her there with Robb Stark in this endless place of hostility and oddness.

Suddenly, Grey Wind's ears perked up and shifted as he listened. Neither man nor woman noticed, but when the grey dire wolf stood and leaped into the bush, they moved back out of surprise.

Adriena flinched back to the tree, her back hitting the rough bark painfully; her first instinct was that the large creature was coming at her, to attack. But she watched—with a sigh of relief—as the animal ran off into the woods, the darkness of the forest swallowing up his terrifying body.

The pain was quickly forgotten when the sounds of barking and growling, were joined by frightened cries.

Immediately, Robb set off, drawing his sword, he dashing towards his dire wolf's threatening growls and a man's frightened yips.

Frozen with shock and awe, Adriena watched as the man suddenly left her. He had been so steadfast about _her_ leaving! It seemed so stupid that he would follow blindly with only a growl and a terrified yelp to lead him. Anyone would be terrified of that bloody mongrel of his! No need to get upset over another fearful face.

But mixed with her trepidation, was a certain need to be defiant, a need to annoy him and make him see that _he didn't own her_ just because he was a King.

Her body moved automatically, her feet slugging forward, stepping over half rotted old logs and soft, wet moss and through a thorny bush and into darkness. Her side ached sharply as she twisted, her boots feeling the sharp lumps of rocks beneath the soft deer hide. It didn't bother her. If she was barefoot, there would not have been much of a difference, because as a girl she had spent so much time barefoot the soles of her feet had become as tough as leather.

She didn't like the dark, she abhorred the lost feeling it gave off. But she walked, her fears were forgotten again as the anger she felt once again shone through. If she was clear of head, she might have stopped and called herself a fool, but she was not and kept on, following the growls and frightened jabbering as Robb Stark had done.

"Who are you? A Lannister scout? A Baratheon spy?" she heard Robb Stark question.

"No! I-I have no idea—get that thing _away_ from me!" Adriena froze. They were not far off; she could even see the back of Robb's handsome stupid head. Her legs sped forward, her injured side burning and flaring madly, but she ignored it.

"Symon!" she screamed as she neared them. Both men turned to her, one standing as his wolf growled down at the man on the ground, his leg bloodied.

Symon of the Oakswood could have laughed in relief at seeing his friend's sister come running toward him. _Safety_, he thought. _She's safe at least. Where's Vynce though? I swore I'd keep them both safe. Gods forbid if either of them dies. I'd follow soon after. _Then he saw he freeze when Robb Stark shot an arm out in front of her. He almost flinched, thinking he'd strike her, but he never did. The Stark King just kept her from coming any closer. He remembered at seeing this: she was just as much a prisoner as any, and could do nothing to help him.

"Who. Are. You?" The dire wolf King ground out.

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><p>Review please and thank you! ;D<p> 


	15. Chapter 15

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><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

It was certainly sweet seeing someone familiar again, but at seeing him in chains, the sweetness died on her tongue.

They'd taken Symon inside Stark's tent some time ago, and since then, there had been many angry shouts and intense murmurs, but no pained cries or whimpers of defeat_. _For that, her heart sang in relief but she dared not show it for Vyncent stood beside her, his face as hard as stone. It was a little troubling that she was more apt to hide herself behind a mask with her brother than she was around Robb Stark.

Robb Stark had led Symon back to camp with the point of his sword at his back, while his hand gripped Adriena's forearm firmly. Robb's grip was firm but not bruising, and she was a little surprised he had not led her back just as roughly. In the woods, before that odd, white tree, he had been angry at her, and Symon's sudden arrival made her expect abuse, but he was being nearly gentle. Robb Stark was an odd man indeed. _Boy_, she thought, _he's only a boy remember_.

When they arrived, Stark had ordered someone to fetch Vyncent, and then pushed Symon into his tent, followed by three other guards and leaving Vyncent and Adriena outside, guarded by four men with spears, and that cur of Robb's.

The cold air made her shiver under her cloak, but she was thankful that Vyncent had thought to grab it when they brought him. She rubbed her cold hands together, hoping in vain that it would warm them. Winter...what a stupid time to make war. The food would quickly dwindle and the men would freeze. Even _she_ knew that.

Adriena's grandmother had told her stories once about the past, about Hoff before it was a forest village and when they had freely knelt to the Kings of Winter. She said there was a Wall, very far north, where it was _always_ cold and _always_ winter, and that it was there that creatures from nightmares lurked, the Wall the only thing protecting them. She said that was why the shadow cats were so scared to them, so deeply rooted to their blood and souls. The Long Night had brought them together so long ago and the connection between the Hoff people and the beast had lasted over a thousand years, even as the world froze and thawed so many times since.

Arwin would always deject grandmother's old stories, saying that there was no such thing as a Wall, and that whatever creatures were there were long dead since the dragons of the Targaryen's had long ago burned them to ash. A good smack on the head would always meet his discouraging tone.

"No," the old woman would say, her pale eyes looking out into the distance, almost as if she could see the fabled Wall and beyond it. "Those monsters still live, I know, oh, I know, and in the long Winters, they come over the Wall and freeze and murder all that's warm and good. The Winter of your womanhood will be a long one, Addry, just pray the shadow cats keep you warm and stave off the hungry wolves and angry dragons." Grandmother had died when Adriena was four, as had her stories, but they lived in Adriena, the old fears of her childhood coming to life once more.

Years had made her forget her grandmother's predictions; such long, warm and sunny days of summer had made her forget about the frigid cold and long, dark winters. They had all seemed just fables meant only to frighten little children. But now it was cold, and the future seemed so dark and there was a monster of a wolf sitting before her...

She shivered again.

Vyncent glared at the guard staring at his sister. He knew that hunger in the lad's eyes, lust and want so bare it made him gag. Men had been staring at her since they first came to this god's forsaken army. He didn't think any of them cared if her face was fair or not, as long as she had breasts for their hands and a slit between her legs it made no matter. He growled. He loved his sister, and would not have her raped by half a hundred soldiers.

_Oh but being raped by a king is entirely different_, he thought angrily. How the hell would he be able to tell Adriena _that?_ That a man of low birth would be on the receiving end of his club, while Robb Stark was allowed to do with her as he pleased? He swore he'd protect her and all others after her once...now he broke that oath because of Arwin.

What if she got pregnant? What then? Would Stark have her executed to be rid of the illegitimate seed he had planted in Adriena's belly? Would he embrace it, love it even? Or would he not care, and cast her and his spawn aside without a thought, leaving their fates to the wind and trees? His heart gave a painful and angry squeeze as he thought of the unknown and troubling questions.

It was the waiting that was getting to him, not just the eating shame at his task. Always waiting for the right moment to tell his sister, waiting for this horrid task to be taken off his hands, waiting to wake up and be back home in Hoff, watching Lydia play with her dogs and cats, Gwyn giggle over boys, and Kimya follow Adriena around, as she had since she was a wee babe.

It was Nara, his sweet Nara that was getting to him. Nara, with her tawny hair and wide eyes, her sweet smile and gentle heart. She would hate him for betraying his kin, for either disobeying his father or whoring Adriena, there was no way to win, but he would never tell her of his misdeeds, she would _never_ know about Arwin's orders.

It was worrying for his sister's safety that was getting to him. Knowing what was going through some of these men's minds and hoping that even though his good hand was crippled, he would be able to defend her if she was unable to grab a knife quick enough. Now he also had to concern himself with Symon's safety.

It was missing home that was eating at him every moment of every waking hour. This place was strange and the alien world unnerved and worried him.

_The world needs a new place to rest_, Vyncent thought. Finally, the little prick gawking at Adriena's hidden chest felt Vyncent's green eyes boring into him, and looked up, and looked away a few moments later, defeated.

Suddenly, the tent flap whipped open and the burly body of a man was thrust out to the ground, grunting as he landed.

Symon's hands were bound together, making it difficult for him to stand up by himself unassisted. Quickly, Adriena and Vyncent moved forward, helping the young man to his feet, one sibling on either side of Symon.

Adriena's eyes scanned his face, looking for any injury they might have silently inflicted on him, but found no blood and no developing bruises. The only hurts that were sustained on his body, was his mauled leg, from where that bloody creature _bit_ him. She was not so concerned over Symon's safety, but rather her and Vyncent's. If Robb Stark was going to beat Symon to a bloody pulp, why not them as well? She did care for Symon because he was village kin, but now that he was here with them, it meant she and Vyncent had another person to worry over. It was easier when it had just been them, when they only had to watch each other's backs.

Robb walked out of the tent, his lords behind him, and watched as the two Hoff siblings helped the new stranger to his feet. Adriena moved away, allowing Vyncent to help Symon stand with his mangled shin. He saw her shoot a deadly look toward Grey Wind, who only gave a yawn that stretched his jaws, and bared his sharp teeth.

The unexpected stranger had given them nothing really. He said he had followed them since they left, keeping to the trees, the shadows as he watched over the siblings from his village. Arwin had sent him, he said, to make sure his children were not being ill treated.

It was an annoying inconvenience to have another wildling person here, to have more anger stirred by their presence. Also, for some odd reason, this Symon person irked him as if the lad had spited him in some personal way. He watched Adriena hold to Symon's arm, look at his face and step closer to him out of worry. His teeth clenched together.

Looking to his lords, he nodded, and the three savages were ushered inside.

The night wore on in a pace akin to a slug creeping its way over a luscious mossy tree stump after Robb pulled all three savages back into the tent. The questions he asked were blunt, short, and his voice was cold and hard as steel. Adriena was terribly uneasy around these men. It would only be too easy...All Robb Stark had to do was say a word, and they would be on them and the wolf would eat their mangled corpses. The thought made her shiver again, this time not from the cold.

Even if Robb Stark was gentler than she had thought, and loved his family as much as she loved hers...that didn't mean he was kind. But he did seem at least half decent.

Robb thought it redundant to question them, but he had to cover all possibilities. Was this the scout for an attack? A spy for an enemy? There was much still to consider.

The surprise on Adriena's face had been true, so at least she had no idea of the man's arrival, her brother's face was stony, but the subtle changes in his demeanour told Robb he was just as surprised as his sister.

So this was just a random man shown up from Hoff? Good gods, these people...

Still, he saw the uncertainty on Symon's face. In the dim light of the candles around them, he could see Adriena's eyes shining in the firelight, her brows pinched together in fret. Where was the harm in keeping him alive? If they did kill him what were the chances, that if these Hoff people could escape, they wouldn't trade secrets to his enemies? Keeping them alive and unharmed meant keeping them loyal at least. And Adriena...no he will not think of Adriena.

Adriena felt she could breathe again when Robb Stark gave them leave to go. The air was cool on her skin, no longer icy frozen, but crisp. That soon changed as the three of them walked on, three of Stark's men on their backs.

It made no matter though, the cold, the men breathing down their necks...she was so relieved, she could almost laugh. Almost. But her heart felt light, and her lips wanted to smile all the same.

He had let them go...he hadn't hurt Symon or her or Vyncent. Although she wondered if he were mad, she would've been happy rather than sympathetic if he was. He hadn't even bound them in chains! There had been talk—more like _shouts_—for chains to be shackled around their wrists to keep them from escaping, but Robb Stark had coolly denied their requests.

Most people, including her own, would've had them at least flogged, but Robb hadn't. When her people caught rapers, or stealers or murderers, the Council in Hoff punished them accordingly. Rapers lost their manhood; stealers lost a finger, hand or arm depending what it is they stole, and the cruel were flogged, fined, or tied to a tree to let the animals at them. She didn't know what the Northerners traditions in punishment were, but was marvellously thankful neither she, nor her brother or Symon found out.

But despite her glee that the three of them had walked away unscathed by the King of the North, Adriena could not help but wonder why? If she was on the outside looking in, she would think he was too kind but...

It was quite possible that the Stark King was mad, or stupid or maybe, even possibly soft, but the man did not strike her as any of those things. He was gentle enough to her and her companions, but hard and fierce enough to still have his men's loyalty. He was smart enough to win battles but foolish enough to take too many hostages when the food and supplies diminished steadily. The gods gave her eyes to see and ears to listen with, and she had found fit to use them here.

She thanked _Natalya_ for Robb Stark's qualities though, the good and the flawed, because together, they ensured her and her companions' safety. Together, they made a man that might actually be..._kind? _The thought wasn't all that bothering this time.

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><p>"What the hell were you doing out there, huh? Alone with the king, no doubt spreading you legs—" Vyncent's hurtful insult was cut short when Adriena's hand cracked against her brother's whiskered cheek. They were back in the steward's tent, and most of the stewards had moved away from the savage bunch and their squabbling.<p>

Robb Stark's guardsmen had shoved them back into this tent, leaving Vyncent and Adriena to explain how things worked to Symon. Of course neither Adriena nor Vyncent had any plans to explain to Symon that they were becoming kitchen maids and stable hands, because they were much more interested on how things in Hoff were after they left and how their father and sisters faired. At least that was what Adriena thought, but as soon as the men turned away and were out of sight, and when they were left alone with simple minded stewards, Vyncent exploded, angry and ready to cut her with his words, but beneath all that, he was truly afraid for her.

"How dare you?" she hissed. Symon dared not look at either sibling's face, feeling as though he was intruding. The stewards watched on in silent confusion.

"How _dare_ you?" she said again. "You ever speak to me like that again and Nara is going to be at loss for any sons." Adriena threatened. How could he say that to her? Yes, her thoughts on Robb Stark changed dramatically since she met him in Hoff, but she'd never thought... _never thought_...oh, now that was a thought...a strange one...

"Adriena, you are a stupid girl." Symon mumbled lowly so the stewards would not hear them. Vyncent glared at his sister, his blood pounding in his ears.

"_What_?" she hissed softly, affronted.

"They'll call your king's whore now. Being alone with him in the woods...his men will think the worst." Symon whispered to her. Vyncent bit his cheek. They were already going to think the worst of her when he would begin to push her toward Stark.

"But...but nothing happened. We...we were talking is all. You—" she pointed at Symon. "You were there!" She was ashamed of herself now, absurdly so. _They. Were. Just. Talking_! Since when did talking mean mating?

"Not the entire time." Symon replied.

"Well who cares what these dolts think. It doesn't make it true." She countered, hoping against hope that her reasoning would take the shame from her.

"It matters, because you don't know what they'll do. They might rape you, kill you, maim you...saying Robb Stark bedded you might shame them to doing something like that." Symon spoke softly to her. At his words, Vyncent felt a little sick. Neither he nor Arwin had ever thought of that.

"That's stupid." She mumbled. _If we did do it out there tonight 'bedded' wouldn't be the right word. There had been no bed. Tree-ed? Ground-ed?_ The thought amused her in an oddly perverse way.

It was silent for a long while, and without any of the Hoff people noticing, the stewards deemed that their entertainment had died and went back to their nightly duties.

"How did you get here?" Vyncent asked Symon. Adriena seemed not to hear and kept her eyes trained on nothing.

"Kept to the trees. The shadows. Your father wants you safe so he sent me. Best not talk about it with eyes on us." Symon nodded to the people slowly bustling about them. It was not so difficult for either sibling to comprehend how Symon avoided detection. They were children of Hoff, and they were proud to say that the darkness suited them. In the trees, they were quick, sleek and stealthy, climbing and hiding so well that a man could walk a stone's throw from them and never see. In the dark, they were invisible, so fast and quiet, like the cats they so admired.

Suddenly Symon hissed. He was always so calm and resolute that it was easy to forget his leg was mangled.

Damn it all. The herbs and linens she's packed with her for her own wounds were going to fun out far quicker now that Symon was there.

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><p>So many men, so little space, especially since they seemed to take their horses everywhere.<p>

Adriena was walking through the camp, a large, round basket of vegetables on her hip. Her hair was braided back this night, long wispy strands of soil brown hair falling out of place, and her cloak was left back in her rucksack, so her dress was all the protection she had against the coming icy air. The hem of her dress was dirty, her boots were covered with filth, and she felt a little itchy from the dried sweat on her brow.

The stewards had employed her as a kitchen wench, gathering and taking the food from one place to the other and helping them to prepare it for the high lords. Today, she had been carrying loads of vegetables, flour and grain from supply carts to other carts, taking breaks in between. Her side did not hurt so badly from the exertion, mostly because she had put soothing herbs on it.

Her brother and Symon were tasked with managing the horses, feeding, watering and saddling them, but she didn't think they minded so much. Truly, if she had a say, she'd be right with them. Adriena hated riding on the animal, but the silent company of the horse must be so much better than the annoying jabbering the other kitchen workers.

It had been two days since Symon had shown up, and she still felt the gnawing need to speak to Robb Stark and thank him. It was an odd need, one that perplexed her, but maybe once she said her thanks, the need to talk to him would go away.

She walked along through the campsite; her fingers were aching from holding to the basket too long. It was dusk and fires were starting to burn and men were starting to settle in. Suddenly, the men ahead of her stood up, bowing as Robb Stark passed them by.

A little flush darkened her cheeks and ears as he walked towards her while she was struck by not knowing what to say. Her natural response was to just call him out to her, speak freely and continue on. But for some reason, her natural response did not seem fit for this task. She looked down, wondering for a moment if she should just keep her head down, and bypass him without a word. She looked back up.

As he drew nearer, she called out, "Oh, um, Your Grace?" the words of courtesy were strange to her, she had never known a king.

Robb stopped and looked towards the familiar voice of the girl, a little surprised that Adriena had spoken so softly. She was usually so robust and haughty.

"Yes?"

"Um," Adriena said dully. She felt an utter fool, but she had to get this out, just so this Robb Stark didn't think her a savage dim-wit with no manners. Thankfully his wolf wasn't with him which would've made this all the harder. "I, I just wanted to thank you," he looked taken aback. "For not hurting Symon or my brother and I. Thank you."

Between them it was silent; making her wonder if she was stupid for speaking to him and thanking him, only to have him stare at her like she had grown another head.

Robb stared at the woman in front of him for longer than he should have. She had seemed to hate him and now she thanked him? Astounding...

"Uh, you're welcome." He replied, somewhat awkwardly.

A little smile cross her lips, and without thinking, she said "You should sleep. You look tired."

With that, she bowed her head, still smiling, and continued her journey, her heart pounding within her breast. She could not feel the weight of the basket on her hip now, only the unexpected smile on her lips. Not a few steps away, she turned back, expecting to see his retreating back, but finding that he was still where she'd left him, looking at her back with a little grin of his own. Her eyes widened at being caught.

Quickly she turned away again and quickened her pace, ignoring the burning that had spread across her face.

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><p><strong>AAAAAHHHH! please review my loves! :)<strong>

**If not, updates will be pretty space-y :(**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hey! Oh my God, you guys...you guys really made my day with your amazing reviews!**

I know it's kinda late...but I have been away from my computer for the better part of a week, because my stupid body rebelled against me and put me in the hospital...:(

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><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

Catelyn watched her son. She always watched him. Even as a child, she watched him close, always worried for his safety, especially since he often played with that bastard of Ned's.

The gods blessed her with five children, three boys, and two girls. But her girls were caught between lion's claws in that snake pit called Kingslanding, and she had not seen her two younger boys in over a year. Catelyn only had Robb in her sight now, and she watched him always just to make sure he was being wise. She watched him become King, watched him make boyish battle plans, only to revise them into the hardened plans of a King. But now she watched him in disappointment and unease as he looked over to that savage girl for the fifth time that hour.

Catelyn was at loss to remember her name, but what her name was made no matter. The girl had Robb's eye; _that_ was what mattered.

Her son was a boy yet, a man in many ways but still so very young. She feared what Robb might do out of..._fascination_ for the girl, what oath he may break, what grave he might dig himself into. If they were not at war, she would not have cared; it was not a mother's business to concern herself with her son's bed wenches. But they _were_ at war, and her son was king and he was promised to another. In war, there was no such thing as love, except for the love that bound family together.

Love was the downfall of royals, that and honor. It was a hard and cruel truth knowing that you could only survive if your heart was closed and unfeeling.

Her eyes gazed over at the girl her son was so enamored with and narrowed as she observed her. She was astride her horse, gripping the reigns tightly as she looked at one of the men with her, her back rigid as the animal trotted on.

What exactly was so lovely about her? The savage girl's hair was long and braided back, dull looking from weeks without washing, a narrow face with pointed cheek bones and crooked teeth. Her body was long but not thin and petite as high born girls were, but rather filled out and ready and made for hard work. She might have good hips and strong legs, but Catelyn could not tell. She was common looking and yet had her son's attention.

_What if he is exactly like Ned_, she thought with a sudden panic. What if he gave that girl a bastard and took it home North with him when the fighting was done? What if he raised it alongside his trueborn Frey children? What if he _loved_ it? Catelyn felt a stab of pity for Robb's Frey-girl wife; she knew what it was like to have the product of your husband's indiscretions toddling about.

Suddenly, it wasn't a savage girl she was looking at, but rather Ned's whore..._Whylla _and her bastard Jon Snow. Her gloved nails dug into her palm, anger hot as hell rising within her.

Time drug on, their slow march taking them across abandoned and burned out fields and dead villages, the open wounds war had left on the small folk. Catelyn tried not to look as they passed this graveyard, hoping that the ghosts of these poor people would find rest or join them on the battle field and bring death to many Lannisters.

Adriena watched in silent horror as the horse shakily trotted past the smoking ruins that must have once been a village. Houses, burned down to black rubble on the ground, the crops were scorched black and the smell of burning wheat still itched her nose though the bonfire had long since burned out. The black smoke gently wafted into the air as a slight breeze beat against it.

But the worst was the bodies littering the ground so carelessly, flies and rodents picking at their dead flesh as the men passed by as if they didn't see. Some were faced down, some were still holding onto a loved one's hand in an eternal state of fleeing from whatever terror befell them. The rank smell of death made her gag.

Her heart told her to stop, her heart told her to bury them, give them back to the earth to let Natalya take over this black place of death and bring life and beauty back to it. But she didn't stop, she didn't cry, or look too long or whimper. She only tugged at the horses reigns as it nearly stepped on the small corpse of a little girl, no bigger than eight.

Tears stung her as she looked away, thinking of her own sisters that were now so far away.

What if this was Hoff? What if this was home? What if it were _her_ sisters lying dead on the ground, raped and butchered like animals? Adriena's heart throbbed as she realized this was _someone's_ home, and now it was gone, caught up in a war that had nothing to do with them. Now these people were dead, for no apparent reason.

Without realizing, she reached up and took her idol between her fingers. Natalya—it was what linked her and her sisters together. Each daughter of Arwin's carried this same idol around their neck, and it was one of the few things she shared in common with her sisters.

Her heart ached, longing to see her sisters again, just to know they were safe and yet untouched by this stranger's war. She missed Kimya's quirky mockery; Lydia's bright and fascinated jabbering about animals, and even Gwyn's love of beauty and boys. She missed fighting over beaded necklaces and bracelets with them, she missed breaking up slap flights and hair pulling fights, and she missed their grimacing as they tasted her Deer-Spice stew. She missed her aunt Samyella, and her wisdom, she missed her cousins, her childhood playmates. She missed her father, probably most of all, because he was her father, and raised her as best he could without her mother's gentle hands.

It would be long before she saw them again, a time that would feel like an age, she was sure. What kind of people would greet her when she returned? Three grown women? Or would they be girls yet? Would she still know them when this was over, or would they grow into strangers? Would father give her rightful place as councilwoman to Kimya? What would _she_ be when she returned? Adriena knew that she herself would not be the same, but whatever woman she became she hoped it would be a woman she liked.

For some odd reason, Robb Stark came to mind. Adriena still didn't understand why her face had burned so when she caught him looking at her two weeks ago when she'd thanked him. He was handsome, she admitted, very handsome and even gentle. But...It wasn't as if she...as if she _fancied_ him. The thought was absurd. She'd liked boys before, but none ever really seemed to like her.

It wasn't because she was in any way ugly to the boys back in Hoff, it was more because...well...they were scared of her.

When she was younger, about eleven, she broke a boy's fingers when he said she was ugly, weak and stupid and belittled her in front of half the village. His fingers were never really straight again after that. Time somewhat faded the Hoff boys' fear of Arwin's daughter, and at fifteen, Adriena finally had a suitor much to Old Helsa's surprise and delight.

His name had been Galen, and all they did was kiss. His mouth had been sloppy, demanding on hers, but she hadn't minded at the time. It had, after all, been her only experience at kissing. But when she caught Kimya doing the same thing with a boy four years older than her thirteen, Adriena yanked the boy away by the ear, slapped him so hard his lip split and threatened his manhood with a dull axe if he ever came near her sisters again. Galen never wanted to kiss her after that, and boys didn't exactly come lining up to Arwin, asking him for permission to court her.

It had burned, to be avoided and rejected, but she never let anyone see her wounds, and after a while, the hurt barely prickled. Now here was Robb Stark, making her feel like a blushing, moony-eyed girl she once mocked.

Finally, the destroyed village was behind them, but she still felt the gnawing feeling of guilt for not burying the dead properly, leaving them to the wind and rain and snow and animals.

"She gives life back to the dead." She whispered to herself, faintly hearing Vyncent and Symon lowly mutter the same. It was a prayer to them, to Natalya, who never let her husband kill something, without giving it life again.

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><p>When the sun began to set, they settled down for the night along the bank of a river that slowly flowed south.<p>

Still on her horse, still tense with fear, Adriena watched the wide river as the dark grey water pushed along. Men were already along the bank, fishing with meager poles and some were even washing up. Adriena's eyebrows raised high on her forehead when she saw a man strip down his small clothes and jump head first into the freezing water.

Vyncent and Symon were a little ahead of her, still mounted like she was and heading toward the trees to tie the horses up. The trees at the side of the road were not all that thick, the trunks were long and skinny and the branches stretched high above their heads. The ground was thickly covered with dead leaves, the frost shimmering over their surface like the crystals she found once in Hoff.

With the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon, Adriena's breath came out in white puffs of smoke and her cheeks tinted red as the chill bit her skin. The horse beneath her whinnied softly as he moved past busting men.

Lifting her head, and ignoring the nausea that stuck her a moment at the swaying height of the horse, she looked forward, finding hundreds of men and horses weaving about each other, pushing and squeezing their way around each other, like ants on an ant hill.

Her heart, for some reason, sunk when she didn't see familiar curly auburn hair. Adriena looked down, twisting awkwardly on her saddle, shocked and confused by her own feelings. It was strange feeling like this, frightening even. After all, Robb Stark was a stranger, a King with a dire wolf, an enemy really who stole them away. The two of them would be more like to kill each other than smile sweetly. Adriena bit her lip.

_I want to go home_, she told herself, _I don't want to stay here, I want to go __home_. _I want to know what he's like so I'll be better prepared if he hurts me—us. _

Her brother and Symon reached the edge of the trees, dismounting gracefully and settling on the ground. Vyncent was gentle with his hand, the loss of two of his fingers making mundane tasks of tying knots and using tools difficult. Although the loss of two insignificant fingers would not have disheartened other men, Hoff men were different. In Hoff, you were not capable unless you were completely whole. One could still go about their way, but people watched, waiting for the mildest fault.

Thoughts of her brother shamed her. The man who'd crippled him was fascinating to her; he had her interest and not her hate, the idea was troubling on its own, but what was worse, was that she might actually have some slowly forming fondness for the King.

_Stupid_, she thought to herself. Learning that she wouldn't mind seeing him again was troubling, but then finding she _wanted_ to see him again made her gag. Her feelings annoyed her, but as Samyella said, feelings are never made up of logic or convenience.

_I wonder what Samyella would say if she knew what I felt about Robb Stark_, she wondered as she stopped her horse. It was not necessarily fondness she felt for him, but neither was it hate. It was at some odd state in between, a shy liking perhaps, and fascination. Robb Stark was an enigma, one that her heart was determined to solve. Was it even possible to come to like someone when you hated them previously?

Adriena shook her head, lifting herself and dismounting her horse.

With one foot still firmly in the stirrup she prepared to step down, hoping that this time she would be able to get off this wretched creature without any trouble. She swung her leg over, shaky as she put her weight on her left foot.

All was going well, but when her foot was only a few inches from the safety of the ground, her horse suddenly jerked and reared.

A soldier had been watching the savage bitch get down off the horse carefully and timidly as though she had never dismounted on her own before. His hound sat beside him, hoping for some scraps, whining softly as the dirty, scruffy man glared at the woman. The dog was mangy little thing, his brown fur matted from years without bathing, skinny as though the poor creature had not eaten properly in a good long time. They were alike, both man and dog, except the man was fatter and far more devious than the hound could ever be.

The soldier picked up a bit of meat from the skillet he had been frying it in, and threw the delicious little morsel at the ground before Adriena's horse. The starving hound took off for it like an arrow escaping the bow, too hungry to realize the danger of darting under a horse.

The sudden movement in front of it had scared the horse, and as the hound caught the meat between his jaws, the horse stumbled back and reared, sending Adriena tumbling to the ground.

"Ah!" she cried out in pain and shock as her back met the frozen earth. Her foot was still caught in the stirrup and the horses' panicked movement wretched and pulled her foot without mercy until it came free a moment later.

Her back hurt, her foot felt as if the horse had pulled bone from bone, but her pain was lost because the bloody animal was still panicked, heavy hooves falling not far from her prone body. Adriena could do nothing but tremble and watch as the animal continued to jerk and twist and whinny, helpless against the frightened creature.

Laughter fell on her deaf ears, laughter from the soldiers who hated them the most who found her distress amusing.

Catelyn looked up from where she'd been standing, and what she saw horrified her. True, she had no love for the girl—she even abhorred her a little—but seeing the girl nearly trapped under a spooked horse was alarming. The pain and suffering stemming from the injuries would be horrible, but what could she do?

The horse finally trotted back after a few terrifying moments of it narrowly missing Adriena's legs and body. The still alarmed creature whined loudly, tossing his great dark mane back and forth, while his legs fidgeted fearfully.

Adriena's breath came out in a deep sigh; her heart was pounding furiously within her breast, relief so strong in her veins that it made her head swim as if she were drunk on wine. She pushed herself further up onto her elbows watching the horse, faintly hearing laughter.

Her breath was loud in her ears, and then finally pain came back to her, drawing a muffled grunt from her pursed lips.

Symon and Vyncent had been watching, just as stunned as Adriena, from where their horses were tied up. Their minds had just frozen for some odd reason; it must have been out of the surprise of it all. But their lack of action could have killed Adriena. They rushed forward but she was already half standing.

The men's laughter breeched her ears, loud and terrible, burning her with shame and anger. How dare they! What right did they have to laugh? What exactly was so funny about this? Her companions reached her, each man gripping one of her arms, holding her up as she leaned on her right foot, her left throbbing in agony. She let out a whimper as she moved her.

"_Think she'll need some new smallclothes, eh!"_ one man yelled.

Her eyes flashed and her shoulders squared. She was better than a mockery; she was a future Councilwoman, a right for only the wise and sure-hearted.

After a long moment, Adriena grit her teeth, and pulled her arms loose from her brother and Symon's hands. She stepped forward, her back throbbing, her ankle swelling, but she continued to walk forward, toward that stupid bloody animal that whipped its tail back and forth along the riverside.

It gave her a certain pleasure to hear their laughter quieten as she walked onward, as normally and best as she could. Sweat gathered on her brow and her cheeks tinted an unnatural red as she held in her sobs of anguish. Good gods, but her ankle _hurt! _The world faded away and she didn't notice the men around her any more. All she knew was that when she got that mangy creature back to her brother the pain would savage girl began to regret her attempts at regaining her pride, what was the point anyway?

Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, her shaking fingers closed around the horses' leather reins. Gently, she tugged the animal back to her companions, limping and biting her lip to keep from screaming out. She could feel her heart pound; she could feel the pulse in her swelling ankle. She could taste the salt of her sweat her lips and see the pride on her brother's face when she reached him.

_Maybe that's what Robb sees in her_, Catelyn thought as she watched Adriena shoot a glare at the now silent men. She watched as the girl confidently limped toward her smirking companions, her head held high as though she knew she was better than the once laughing soldiers. Courage, yes, and proud too. The girl had heart, Catelyn admitted.

Adriena let out a little cry as she reached her companions, gasping sharply as she collapsed into her brother's arms.

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><p><em><strong>note<strong>: I know, not alotta Robb/Adriena interaction, but this one had to get out..._

_once again guys, I cannot thank you enough for reviewing! **And I hope this one tickles your fancy!**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Just a lil bit o info: **

_In my Story, Robb was crowned King BEFORE Ned was executed, so Ned's alive yet but in the black dungeons of the Red Keep, and Robb is King. He has not sent Catelyn to gain Stannis' support yet because his main concern is keeping his father and sister's alive, and the best way to do that is by not siding with their enemies (the Lannister's) enemies, ie) the Baratheon's. He has a hope that this war could be resolved peacefully enough if the Lannister's give him back his family...all hopes of that are flushed down the toilet the second Joffrey (the little cunt) orders Ned to die. To Joffrey and Robb, it is fucking on! But you guys are smarties, I don't need to explain my reasoning, but I did because I know crap gets confusing_

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><p><strong>Chapter 17<strong>

They had been riding for what felt like small hours before the van came to a stop as night fell. Robb liked the simple calm times in between making camps, because once a camp was set, the war came rushing back to him in the form of petitions, and plans and maps. There was also the ugly, gruesome side of war that Robb had become familiar with.

He came back with red stains on his armour and skin every time he went off to destroy the Lannister's. At first he'd been horrified. He'd taken a life, watched those last desperate attempts to survive, fail. For a moment, he felt like the boy who had watched his father behead a traitor all those years ago. He was not like Robert Baratheon, he did not look to killing as sport; men were not boars nor bears nor deer. After that it was just easier to pretend every man he and his wolf killed, brought him closer to liberating his father and sisters.

So far, the path to King's Landing was a far one. Stannis and Renly both had named themselves king of the Iron Throne, gathering their hosts in the south, at each other's throats rather than the enemies. Stannis, they said, had a broom stick up his ass so far that he'd never bend to anyone else who named themselves king. Robb suspected that Stannis awaited _his_ support, but Robb's main concern was his father and sisters' safety. Yet with each battle they lost more and more troops, and as the Baratheon's stood against one another in the south, Robb remained in the North, with only 20,000 men to defend it from attack.

Robb let out a weary sigh. He didn't want to be at war, he wanted his sisters back at Winterfell and _safe_; he wanted to go _home_, though his mother sometimes seemed to doubt his motives. It wasn't that Lady Catelyn did not _trust_ her son, she simply worried about the way he made war, worried over his motives. She would wonder if he was intentionally drawing out this war for glory or to prove his capability as King, but either way, it hurt his pride as King and his heart as her son, to know Catelyn did not have complete faith in him as she should have.

He often wondered if that was how he seemed to the world, a green boy with romantic notions of glory in battle, an ambitious sod that enjoyed the vanity of a crown, or something else entirely.

Oddly, he found himself thinking of the Hoff threesome—the lone female in particular. There was nothing wrong with thinking of her, he told himself, she was strange, an interesting woman that piqued his interest in a puzzle or mystery, _nothing_ else.

What did they—what did _she_—think of him? He hoped she saw that he didn't _want_ to steal her away, he didn't want her hate. Robb wanted to go home, he knew the ache of being somewhere so far from all you knew, and did not wish that for Adriena.

_Perhaps_, he thought, _that's why Adriena seems so...intriguing_. She wanted to go home as well; she protected her siblings like he protected his...odd how he held something in common with that strange woman who lived her life among the trees like an animal. She didn't _look_ like a forest dweller either, adding to his interest. She looked..._pretty._

With noble girls, you could see they had been groomed all their lives, their hair sleek and soft as silk, their skin white and without blemish. The way they carried themselves with grace and poise was in everything they did, from walking to eating to smiling. With common women, they were sturdy, hard work showing on their rough hands, hair tangled and dry, and demeanor rough and blunt. Adriena seemed to be somewhere between the two, a lovely mix of high ranking elegance, and low born knowledge.

He looked toward her again, wondering which of the two she really was: a lady or a savage. Before, when she'd thanked him, the lady had shone through, bright and warm, like the sun on a cloudy day. She had smiled at him unexpectedly; her words had been softer than he'd ever heard them, her voice teasing. And she had looked back to find _him_ smiling at _her_...odd creature the savage girl, surprising him even in the most subtle of ways.

At the moment, she was looking at the newest man to her small entourage, speaking lowly in conversation. The man murmured something back to her that caused Adriena to break out into a smile, turning her head away to hide her giggles.

Something tugged ever so faintly at that, seeing how the boy was able to coax a smile from her lips so easily. When she was around him, however, she was tense, uneasy and watched Grey Wind the way most people did: fearing attack, fearing _him. _Robb knew it was to be expected, for who wouldn't be frightened around a wolf as big as a pony?

Still, it bothered Robb more than he thought it would. Grey Wind was like..._more_ than a brother, _more_ than a friend. Grey Wind was like a limb, as essential and precious to Robb as his sword hand, a part of him that would cripple him to be without.

He would dream he ran through the forest in his wolf's body, seeing through eyes that were not his own, trees rushing past him, large paws breaking twigs and dead leaves, lunging and ripping into an unsuspecting buck or fox. It was an indescribable experience when he saw the world through Grey Wind's eyes. It bonded them, and to fear Grey Wind, was to fear Robb. And he did not want to be feared by Adriena, because she was already afraid of this new world, surrounded by big men, away from all she knew and Robb took no pleasure in seeing any women's frightened eyes. Although, admittedly, seeing Cersei Lannister frightened wouldn't bother him...

Robb recalled with distaste how terrified Adriena had looked when they met before the heart-tree, hiding behind the thick trunk of the tree, almost looking like a child hiding from a monster, vulnerable and small. She was so much like a doe, cautious, flinching away from a stranger's touch, always ready to dash away.

Robb frowned. He didn't want to scare the girl. He...he wasn't sure what he wanted her to feel toward him, but fear and loathing were not it.

Grey Wind would never attack her; he was just as curious about the woman as Robb was. She gave off a certain scent, something exotic and feral, something earthly and rich. It was alluring, and not at all common in humans and the dire wolf would have been trotting about the woman, sniffing in her peculiar scent, had Robb not kept him close. She was terrified of the creature after all.

When he began to care for the woman's fears over his wolf, he did not know, he did not question it.

Robb looked back at Adriena once more, liking the way her nose bunched up at whatever her brother said to her. From beside him, Grey Wind gave a whine, and when Robb looked back to his trusted companion, he told the grey giant to run and hunt, away from camp, away from him...away from her.

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><p>"I swear, Addry, both you and Vyncent have nothing else but rocks in your head at times." Symon chided as he wrapped her foot. Adriena frowned. Only her sisters could call her Addry, everyone else either called her Adriena or Addy.<p>

He knelt before her as she sat on her little cot in the tent all the stewards shared, wincing and huffing through the pain as he prodded her swollen ankle. It wasn't broken, but it was sprained, made worse by her walking on it.

Her pride had taken a blow, and her brash heart acted too quickly and saw walking on it as if she were _not_ hurt, as the only means to regain her pride. _I couldn't let them think that I could be cowed into submission_, she thought_, even though it very nearly worked_, she grimaced as she looked down at her foot once was clear to see that the weak were devoured in this world at war, and she had no interest in being devoured. Tears didn't get you what you wanted, so cry in secret and put on a brave face; that is what her father taught her. But, by the gods, it _hurt_ to be brave and strong! This mask of strength wouldn't hold up forever.

"Shut up." She gasped as he tied the cotton together. "Men have rocks in their heads, women have wood. Men _sink_ and women float." She jested weakly, thinking of all the times Vyncent and other boys she knew let their tempers get the better of them. Vyncent was more reckless than she, by far, but because he was male and she was female, Vyncent tended to get away with it more.

"Men have a fire born in them," Aunt Samyella had told her. "It grows and burns bright in their youth, hot and frightening, but dims with age. Women are water, cool and ever-changing, fierce and unpredictable, washing away even the earth if it chooses, but yet can be calm and shimmering. Water _tempers_ fire and so can a woman, tame a man." She loved her Aunt Samyella, and missed her wise words, even though they were not always true. A woman could not tame a man, no more than a farmer could tell the sun "More sun" or the rain "More rain". A sharp ache struck her chest as she thought of her beloved aunt, sisters and father.

Symon grinned. "It's gonna hurt for a while, so stay off it. Don't know _what_ the stewards will do without their new pack mule." Adriena hit him hard as she could on the shoulder.

"Shut up," she said, in too much pain to bring much malice into her tone. "Ah!" she gasped as he patted her ankle before standing.

"What's the matter with you? Are you as big a fool as you were in Hoff or did you not feel the pain?" Symon's once jesting tone had turned into the tone that parents use to scold a child. This annoyed her, she was _not_ a child. Yes she had made brash choices in Hoff, had gone off alone, come back with scrapes and cuts and bruises, she had shamed boys with her bow skills, and scared away suitors with her overprotective habits over her sisters. But what man or woman of eight-and-ten isn't a bit stupid or brash? After all, Robb Stark was her age and playing at war.

"I don't need you to lecture me, Symon." She said crossly. "I've had enough of that from Vynce, father and the bat who raised me. You are none of them, so don't talk like you are."

"Sorry, I just don't understand what made you do it." He muttered to himself. She glared up at him, her cheeks flushed and red. "Maybe," he said, almost sounding annoyed, "if you show some emotion, they'll realize you're a woman and leave you be." Symon suggested sincerely.

"Or maybe they'll realize I'm a girl and treat me the way some of them treat other girls: put their hands up my skirt, throw me something shiny in exchange for my charms or maybe just _take_ what they want." she snapped back. It was a scary idea he had. She was afraid of what these men were capable of, and believed if she was hardened and strong as steel, they wouldn't hurt her.

Adriena knew what some men were capable of; her father had told her how the world worked on her fourteenth year, how some men drew pleasure from chaos and suffering. He had burned such a man that year, and spoke bluntly to her when she asked why. Her village was small and there had been a man like that there. King Stark's army was _vast_, so there was _sure_ to be _more_ than one vile creature in the great lot of them, and one could not count out the fact that her people had attacked them.

"It's a risk," Symon admitted, coming to sit beside her. "But the world is filled with risks. Adriena you try to be braver and stronger than you need to be. Vyncent and I'll keep you safe."

_Yes, how wonderfully that worked out_, she thought miserably looking down at her swollen foot. She knew it wasn't fair, but the bitterness that came with feeling wounded pulled and tugged at her patience fast. She trusted them, wholly and entirely with her life; she knew they'd never hurt her, or let her be hurt...she just couldn't find a way to somehow trust the strangers around them enough to let her guard down.

"Leave me," she said tiredly. "And find Vyncent and bring him back here before he does something stupid."Adriena ordered, too tired to try to sound demanding. Symon waited a moment, glaring at her stubborness, but left without another word.

Adriena sighed. She usually took pleasure when people did her bidding without question, but she got no satisfaction in ordering Symon. Symon had a good heart, he was kind and loyal, but had a tendency to "overstep his bounds", as Arwin said. She had never understood that until now, because now Symon was telling her something she did not want to hear.

Looking down at the ugly, swollen and bruised foot, she felt a prickle of regret.

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><p>Time went on, day after day, one week and then the next, and each time the sun went down and came up once more, Adriena, Vyncent and Symon moved farther and farther from home, and their wounds healed until the sharp, unbearable hurt, faded to dull throbs. The wound on her side was still healing, the scar a deep pink, jagged in shape and tender to the touch still. The farther she went, the more the mark faded and she thought when the blemish was a pale scar on her skin, she would have been gone from her family for too long.<p>

Years and years of grooming and knowing she was destined for high position, Adriena found her new role as a "pack mule" as Symon and Vyncent so eloquently called her, menial and humiliating. The work was easy enough, though hard most days, leaving her with the stiff joints of a woman twice her age. Symon and Vyncent were at ease with their "jobs" as stable hands, and Adriena was glad for them. The two knew horses and mules better than she, and why shouldn't they be placed into a familiar area just because they were captives? Adriena was familiar with chores but she had hated meeting new faces every day, but she was getting used to it, even learning little facets about the men she traded supplies with everyday.

The man who she got the apples in her arms from, his name was Phyllip. He was a crooked old man with no teeth and a permanent scowl on his face. From the first time she'd gone to see him (she didn't see him often as apples were a luxury now), he scowled at her and from then on she'd dreaded seeing him and never spoke unless he grunted at her with a question. But then one day during the trip before the last, he'd heard her empty belly make an embarrassingly loud gurgle and threw her an apple, round, red and sweet on her tongue. He still had that scowl, but he seemed somehow sweeter to Adriena with just that one kind act.

There was a skinny lad that had her pack wheat and straw was smiley and sweet, but she often saw him kicking a skinny old hound that lingered around his warm, comfortable tent. She spat at him to stop once and glared at him when he told her to keep her "filthy savage mouth shut". He had looked so unnerved by her unwavering stare that her stuttered and all but ran off. The other men laughed at the little bastard's fear and let her on her way without hindrance.

Then there was Petra, an older woman with deep lines around her mouth and eyes, and gray hair held back with a cap had her help cook meals at night. She loved to talk, and her favourite topic was about her eldest son who fought for Robb Stark in this very army. She was so proud of him, always smiling as she peeled and cut and cooked, never complaining.

It was strange. She didn't know when she'd started noticing traits of these people, and she didn't know when she started _liking_ some of them, but it was too late; it was already done. She liked knowing that old Phyllip had a soft spot; she liked knowing that the wheat and straw boy was afraid of her; she liked hearing the love and pride in Petra's voice when she talked about her son. They almost reminded her of her village-kin back in Hoff. Almost.

It was windy that day, three weeks after she fell from her horse, chilling her skin and blowing her hair into the air. The sun hid behind the grey clouds, but the mud beneath her feet seemed to never cool or freeze, but always be squishy and messy. Adriena wore her long green dress; her thick belt that she wore when she hunted was fastened around her hips and was empty of any knives with only a lone rag remained tucked in it. Under her dress she wore cotton trousers and a shirt, keeping the cold away, and over her shoulders was a shawl to keep her exposed neck and chest warm. Her hair was loose from her braid, and simply hung around her face, tumbling down her back and over her breasts.

The basket of apples in her arms was heavy, but she didn't mind, because her attentions were not fixed on the growing stiffness in her fingers, but on the sky.

Govad, the Sky Father, had sent them wind today, and chose to make the fallen coloured leaves dance in the sky, without smoke or screams disturbing their dance. Watching the dried leaves swirl in the air high above them, and the hunter birds gliding in the wind too far to see, Adriena felt oddly calm and..._hopeful_. There was still _life_ outside of this pit. The sun still rose and fell in the sky each day; the wind still blew and the birds still flew. The world went on even though this war seemed to be everywhere.

She spotted the cart that would transport her and the supplies to the other end of the camp, out the corner of her eye and walked over to it, her eyes still set to the sky, deep in thought. The horse tittered quietly, but remained still.

Adriena lifted the basket, half full with the sweet red fruit, into the back of the cart, pulling her eyes from the pale sky and down to the cart bed. It was nearly filled with various supplies, wooden boxes consisting of medical instruments and potions for the healers, bundles of hay and larger baskets filled with vegetables, fish from the river and wood for the numerous fires that burned day and night around the camp. She would have to sort this mess out, so she could sit in the back while the driver rolled them towards the other end of camp.

"You're looking at a cloudy sky. One is tempted to ask what is so fascinating." A voice suddenly spoke from behind her. Looking back, she blanched a sudden jolt of surprise replaced by a blend of confusion and slight... interest, for want of a better word. King Robb stood behind her, a small grin playing on his face. He was out of his armour, dressed in a brown leather doublet, a fine fur collar cloak whipping in the wind behind him, looking handsome as ever.

She bit her lip, feeling a little foolish for being caught, and immediately scolded herself. Why was she feeling so shy? She quickly thought of answers or rude remarks, but suddenly her mouth moved and words spilled out.

"And one may learn the answer if one asks." She replied turning away to the back of the cart. Inwardly she cringed. Why had she said that?! He'd probably find her musings stupid and common.

Robb Stark only smiled, stepping closer until she was close enough to smell him. He smelled nice, like leather and sweat and spices. She flushed, realizing she was _smelling_ him. "What is so interesting about the sky today, my lady?" he asked.

_No matter how many times he says it, I am no lady_, she thought. "I...I was thinking...the sky looks much the same as back at home." She finished lamely.

"The sky looks the same everywhere, I think." He replied, his gentle gaze never faltering. When their hate and cold distain had morphed into something civil and even pleasant, Adriena knew not. She did not know what on earth to make of it; was his kindness a trick or a folly? Did he want something of her? Or was he simply being kind because he wanted to? It would be easy to dismiss this man's pleasantness, but his smile was so genuine, his eyes giving away no hint of a lie or mockery.

So with guarded caution, she said, "I wouldn't know. This is the farthest I've ever been from home." She looked away, running her fingers over the smooth red skins of the apples in the basket. Currently, her arm remained propped up on the lip of the basket as she spoke with Robb Stark and awaited the cart driver.

"Me as well." He said. Adriena looked up, surprised. She hadn't thought about his traveling past; she hadn't thought of his past at all. She just assumed that he'd been sort of a nomad, always traveling, seeing great things and wondrous beauties she could only dream of. But he was far from home, just like her. Did he feel as though he had been plucked from his life like she did?

"Where is your home?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Winterfell." She looked a bit lost and he remembered she lived in the forests for probably her whole life. "It's far away in the North. Just south of the Wall."

"So the Wall _does_ exist?" She asked eagerly, her eyes wide with her new discovery. Robb raised a brow.

"Yes. Why did you think it didn't'?"

She smiled, half ruefully, half amused. "We live all the way down here, in the south. Barely any of my village kin ever left the forest, and those who did rarely ever come back. So after a while, the Wall became something out of a children's story. We'd always thought that when Aegon the Demon Rider landed in Westeros, he and his sister-wives melted it. " Robb was impressed. She knew her histories well.

Suddenly, she felt eyes on her. Looking away and over her left shoulder, she immediately locked eyes with her brother, who was currently pulling a grey speckled horse away by the reigns. His face was hard, his eyes questioning and angry. Her brother had changed in the time they'd been Robb Stark's captives. Her brother's beard was longer now, as was his dark blonde hair. The evergreen eyes that matched hers were now lined with worry, and dirt coated his skin and clothes constantly. And he was distant too, speaking to her with guarded reluctance. He never seemed to relax, and always seemed to be angry or annoyed. She wished she could pray to Natalya for his peace, but with the woods and nature so far away, it wouldn't be right. It'd be blasphemy; you don't pray to the goddess of all life and nature, in an unnatural place.

Robb followed her gaze, and when Vyncent noticed that he'd caught the object of his hate's attention as well, he turned away and continued his task, the desire to swing his fist at something strong in his gut.

"You're brother's temper is something to behold." Robb murmured, still watching Vyncent's retreating form, wondering is the man would be a true problem. Adriena turned back to watch the king's profile a moment, being slightly annoyed by his words.

"My brother isn't always so coarse." Robb turned back to her. As she spoke, Adriena looked down into the apple basket at her side, a smile growing across her pretty face as she recalled the memory. "When we were little, our father had us pick apples in the orchards for the Fall Harvest Feast." She gently ran her fingers over a round, red treat, lost in a memory. "We'd make games of it to make the work easier: who got more wormy apples, which one of us could climb higher, who could fill their basket before our nanny could come yell at us for being lazy."

She licked her lips. She looked very pretty to Robb then, not guarded and stiff, but free and glowing. "Once when I was seven, I think, I fell and tore open my knee, sending apples scattered everywhere. I was crying so hard, the way only a child would, and he," she paused. How could she phrase it so she didn't embarrass Vyncent? "He did everything to quieten me, but nothing worked. Finally, he just put his hand on my shoulder, and said everything would be alright." Her smile as warm as she recalled those events. Her brother had looked so scared, yet so honest when he told her softly it would be alright, taking care of her the way a brother should. Her smile faded as she remembered where she was and who she was talking to. "So you see, Your Grace, my brother is not so cold." She said quietly, looking at him.

Robb was amazed once more. This woman...this odd, odd woman...gods help him he wanted to know her, know why she hid herself the way she did though when she let her guard down and let herself shine through she seemed so damned beautiful. "Yes it would seem there is more there than what you can see." He said, his blue eyes solely set on her face.

Adriena flushed, biting her bottom lip as she stared back, looking for any hint of falseness. She found none. She felt pinned by his gaze, unable to look away, to speak or think properly. She could only look into his eyes, and wonder what had altered, what had happened to change their minds about the other so drastically.

Suddenly, the horse jumped at the return of its master, and broke the disturbing spell. Adriena wanted to run away, away from this feeling and away from the man who'd caused it, but she couldn't. Her feet her locked to the ground.

But Robb did it for her. "Good day, my lady." He said, nodding to her before turning his heel and walking away. The crowds parted for him, and with a sigh, she reminded herself he was a king.

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><p><strong>Whoo! Queue "I Am Hers and She is Mine" by Ramin Djawadi<strong>

**Holy balls. I'm so so so sorry for everyone I left hanging D':**

** Please, let me know if this chapter was too much, too little, too soon, or what-have-you. **

**To everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted, and simply gave the time of day, I thank you :)**


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